Of Beauty in Violence
by Lima Heights Adjacent
Summary: Sequel to 'Three Words'. At the end of the day, all they have is each other. Always and forever. -discontinued-
1. Chelsea Smile

**Disclaimer: I, **_The Night Sings Alone_**, intend no infringement on anyone's copyright. 'Kay?**

**AN: Just the facts:**

**This will be in third person.**

**It will be fast paced, long chaptered, and action packed.**

**Some of it will contain gruesome depictions of frontline war. **

**There will be deliciously cute fluff of epic proportions. **

**You'll definitely love it.**

* * *

The storm raged on, the thunder cracking overhead milliseconds after lightning would illuminate the weeping willows that lined the walk to the Malfoy's home. Just as another bolt crashed, the youngest patron of the home, Scorpius, apparated onto the property's outskirts. Briefly regaining his balance as the horizontal rain drenched him in a matter of seconds, he ducked his head and trudged up the long stretch of cobblestone drive to his house. Internally cursing his parents and the wards that kept people from apparating any closer to the home, Scorpius walked as quickly as he could. He pulled the hood of his jacket over his head and wrapped his coat tighter around himself. As he reached the front porch, he finally looked up as he yanked the sopping wet hood off his head. He froze. The front door was wide open and hanging off two of its hinges. Extracting his wand from an inside pocket of his coat, Scorpius was instantly on alert.

Silently igniting his wand, Scorpius walked as quickly and quietly into the foyer as possible. He listened intently for any sign of his parents, or any movement at all. He walked quickly over to the stairs and just as he was about to climb up, a loud crash came from down the hall.

Without thinking, he called out.

"Mum? Dad?"

There was a cry out that was quickly silenced. Scorpius ran, wand outstretched, to the drawing room. Kicking open the door, Scorpius darted into the room. It was dark, the only light came from the lightning outside. There was scuffling and clear movement from two figures near the corner. One figure looked like it was made of shadows, it's outline distorted and blurred. The other was much smaller than the first and clearly feminine, her gold-blonde hair pure white in the darkened room. He knew, in an instant, what was happening. It was just as Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley had been saying; the Albanian Crusaders, the Prophet's nickname for them, were hunting down survivors. And his parents were clearly on their list.

"Run! Run, Scorpius!" his mother shouted before the cloaked person that had been advancing on her punched her, and she was immediately unconscious. Scorpius unthinkingly ran forward to her, but the Renegade stopped him with a quick punch to the ribs. Scorpius went down, clutching his sides in pain. He braced himself for another hit but none came. He strained his ears to hear any movement, but heard nothing except the sounds of the rain pounding on the windows and roof as well as the occasional rumble of he felt and heard it; the Crusader had broken the wards on the house and then disapparated with an echoing crack. Scorpius forced himself up, trying not to cry out from the pain that exploded in his side. It was too much, and Scorpius crumpled, panting heavily. He pulled a shaking hand from his side and up to his face. It was dark and sticky with blood. Clenching his jaw against the pain as his breath came out in whistling hisses, Scorpius fumbled wildly, dragging himself over to the back of the couch that faced him. He grappled desperately for the edge, trying to find some way to support himself. Gripping the edge of the couch with the arm that wasn't clutching his side, he pulled himself into a standing position. It had taken so much effort that Scorpius, while thankfully on his feet, was doubled over with the intense pain of his broken ribs. He'd never felt this kind of pain before. Every labored breath he took caused stabbing pains to shoot through him. He was panting, and had broken into a cold sweat.

A groan came from the corner of the room where Astoria lay. Scorpius straightened up with a cry, but managed to slowly make his way over to his semi-conscious mother.

"Mum," he croaked, reaching a trembling hand out to her. He pushed her hair from her face and recoiled. She was staring up, her eyes glassy and unmoving.

"Mum?" he whispered, the pain that was coming now having nothing to do with his broken ribs.

Backing away from his mother's body, he stood up again, not truly feeling his pain any more.

"Dad," he cried desperately, stumbling around the room until he nearly tripped over a pair of legs. Looking down, he took in the sight of his father's body, laying flat on the ground as stiff as a board. Dread came over Scorpius like a tidal wave. _Not Dad, too. Please..._

Falling unceremoniously to his knees, Scorpius reached for his father.

"Dad," he groaned, the pain beginning to effect his mind. He blinked a few times before looking at his father's face. Draco Malfoy's eyes were open, too, but unlike Astoria's, they were moving rapidly from Scorpius to the wand clutched in his hand against his ribs.

Scorpius felt relief wash over him, but not enough to eclipse the intense pain coming from his broken ribs and the loss of his mother.

Letting go of his wounded side, Scorpius extended the hand holding his wand. He pointed it at his father, but was at a complete loss for the spell as he was slowly drifting off.

"Fin...Fini...Fin..._Finite..._" he croaked. The Full Body-Bind holding his Dad was lifted. Draco instantly sat up, reaching for Scorpius.

"Son, look at me," his Dad said urgently.

"Dad, it's mum. Mum needs you. Go," Scorpius said feebly, pushing his father's hands from his wounded side. Draco stared at Scorpius for a second before his hands dropped despondently.

"No, she doesn't," his father said in a broken voice. Scorpius watched in a pain filled daze as his Dad ducked his head, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly for a few minutes before he looked back up at Scorpius with watery, red eyes.

"Come on," Draco said, throwing his son's right arm over his shoulder. Scorpius howled with pain as his left was jostled painfully. Standing up slowly, Scorpius nearly collapsed, clutching his father's shoulder for support.

"This will hurt." was all Draco said as he turned on the spot, taking Scorpius with him by Side-Along Apparation to St. Mungo's.

* * *

Sadie Anveray had never believed that she'd find someone she truly loved. She had firmly believed that she'd be the kind of girl that would be forty years old, drinking green apple martinis, and winking at the twenty three year old guy checking her out.

Freddie Weasley thought love was real, and cool for the people that found someone for them and everything, but he'd let his life take it's course. If he found a girl at some point, well, awesome, but that wasn't really important to him.

Sadie had always secretly thought her best friend's older cousin was really, _really_ hot. She loved going to Rose's grandparents house on hot summer days, even when all Rose or her cousins wanted to do was play Quidditch. She loved it when it was really hot outside. Because then, Freddie would take his shirt off. And then she'd pretend she was really only fanning herself because it was humid out. Not because she was staring at Freddie's abs or anything. _Really. _She just couldn't deny the adorable way his hair, which was such a dark red, it was almost brown, stuck up in a kind of lopsided mohawk. She liked his tan skin, and the way it contrasted with his light hazel eyes. She really liked how he made her laugh at the big Weasley family dinners, the way he was nice to everyone at school or home, and the way he had patiently explained Quidditch to her when she'd asked way back in the summer before her third year. She loved the fact that when she'd tried out for the team, as a Beater, of all things, he'd given her a chance.

Freddie had thought Rosie's friend Sadie was kinda cute way back in the summer before his fourth year. He can still remember that exact moment. He, to this day, can not explain why the memory has stuck with him the way it has. But it was one Saturday, and all the kids were outside. He was playing Quidditch with his best friend Max, James, Al, Al's friend Scorpius, Dominque, Roxie, and Teddy. They were at a stand still in the game, since Al had lost their makeshift Quaffle, and Freddie was just looking around when he noticed Rose and her friends. Daphne and Masen were bickering and Rose was trying to make peace. Sadie, who had been reading a magazine, when she looked up at him right as he looked at her. They both just smiled before Max had slapped his shoulder because they found the Quaffle. He hadn't been able to forget the way her jade-green eyes had looked, or the way she'd been biting her lip before she'd smiled.

Sadie fell in love with Freddie on their second date. She'd always really liked him, more than any other boyfriend, but on that date, she had looked up from their intertwined hands and fingers to his face. He had turned and looked at her, and smiled at her with such a big smile that, in that moment, she realized she was in love with him.

Freddie fell in love with Sadie the day she tried out as a Beater for the Gryffindor team. His first thought was, _wow. _She'd then amazed him beyond belief by out doing all of the other guys vying for the position. When she'd walked off the pitch, she had then turned to look at him over her shoulder. She'd given him a smoldering wink before walking away. His last thought that day was, _damn..._

* * *

"Mum! I'm going out! I'll be with Albus! Love you!" Rose called, not waiting for a reply before darting out the door. She practically skipped to the awaiting car.

"Someone's cheerful," Albus said sardonically as his cousin climbed in, the seat belt clicked into place. Rose rolled her eyes and glanced at the storm cloud filled sky.

"At least my mood doesn't match the weather," Rose joked, sticking her tongue out at him. Albus sneered jokingly back. He had just put the car in drive when Rose's mother burst out of the house, her expression stricken.

"Rose, Albus, inside, now!" she all but screamed before running back into the house, leaving the door wide open. Rose and Albus looked at each other before frantically getting out of the car and darting inside.

"What's going on?" Albus asked in alarm. Rose was just as confused. In front of her was her mother, standing next to a clearly distraught Ginny Potter. Albus' father was pacing back and forth in front of the fire while Rose's father was sitting in an armchair, his head in his hands.

"What happened?" Rose asked. In the last two months, she'd gotten used to seeing her parents upset or stressed because of the fact that their jobs put them in the forefront of the movement against Albania's increasing resentment towards them.

"The Crusader's attacked the Malfoy's on Friday night, after he left here. Scorpius was hurt but he's fine now. But...Astoria is dead," Harry said. Rose's knees buckled and she crumpled on the floor. She'd finally met Mrs. Malfoy at the beginning of the summer and had instantly liked her. Where as Mr. Malfoy was cold and calculating, his wife made an effort to be warm and kind. Even her father got along with her. The resentment from their school day's still lingered between the dad's, but Mrs. Malfoy and the Weasley's were on good terms. But it was Mrs. Potter that was the closest to her out of them all. Astoria had been a Ravenclaw and in Ginny's year, and while there hadn't been any animosity between them, they became friends when their son's had.

"DAMNIT!" Albus shouted, kicking the nearest chair. Everyone jumped at the outburst.

"Son," Harry began, reaching to grasp Albus' shoulder, but he jerked out of the way.

"NO! It's not fair! Why Mrs. Malfoy? She was so nice! It's. Not. FAIR!" Albus raged. They all looked at him. Rose looked up at her Uncle.

"Where is Scorpius?" she asked hoarsely, her voice thick with repressed tears. It was Rose's mother who answered.

"With his father. Their house was compromised like all the others, so Scorpius will be staying with his aunt."

Rose nodded. "I'll be upstairs." No one spoke as Rose slowly climbed the stairs, the creaking of the steps mingling with the quiet sobs coming from Ginny. Rose had intended on going to her room, but stopped when she reached her brother's door. Knocking, she waited the mandatory three seconds before opening it.

"Hugh?" Rose called, her voice wavering. Her brother looked up from the paper he was reading. Closing the door, Rose walked over and slid down, sitting on the floor, her back against the bed.

"Mrs. Malfoy is dead. They killed her. Just like that," Rose whispered, beginning to cry. She heard the creak of bedsprings before Hugo got up and sat next to Rose.

"Albus is right. It's not fair," she whispered tearfully.

Hugo didn't say anything. He just exhaled heavily.

"She didn't do anything to them! Neither did any of the other ten people they already took out. I guess... I guess it just seems more real, you know? Because I knew her. And... Scorpius... Oh Merlin.. Poor Scorpius."

Rose sniffed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"Why? Why us?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw Hugo look at her briefly before reaching for the newspaper he'd been reading.

"The Evening Prophet?" Rose asked, taking the paper.

**_The "Crusade" Continues. Another Survivor, Dead._**

_Astoria Malfoy (nee Greengrass) is the latest victim of the Albanian Revolution. The Malfoy's were attacked in their home on Friday night. Draco Malfoy, renowned diagnostic Healer and survivor himself, was attacked as he tried to save his wife and was incapacitated. As Mrs. Malfoy struggled with her attacker, the couple's son, Scorpius, arrived home. Mrs. Malfoy's last act was to try and save her son before she was was killed. Scorpius was then attacked, suffering several broken ribs and some internal bleeding. Astoria Malfoy is the eleventh survivor to fall victim to the Albanian Crusades. She is survived by her husband, son, and sister. _

Under the paragraph about Mrs. Malfoy, the story continued with more information about the Crusades that Rose knew had only been released in light Astoria's death.

**_Shacklebolt's State of the Union: The Crusades and Where Our Ministry Stands._**

_In a press conference today, Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt addressed the pressing issue at hand: what exactly is going on between Albania and Great Britain's Ministries? It has now been confirmed that Albania is seeking revenge on the survivors of the Second War. _

_"I am advising everyone to be on high alert. We are taking every measure to ensure the safety of our people, but it is up to the individual to take it a step further. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Auror Offices are combining efforts to increase our numbers and skill tenfold. We are now recruiting and training our forces with the best skills of both agencies."_

_Then, the question that has been plaguing the minds of many: is the Ministry recruiting an army?_

_Minister Shacklebolt was visibly uncomfortable but answered._

_"Yes. Before, raising a Wizard army was only seen fit to do in times of war. The Ministry has decided, in light of recent events, to begin efforts to recruit willing individuals to serve our country. The DMLE and the Aurors are throwing every effort into the safety of our people."_

_At the end of this statement, there was instant murmuring and unease. _

_The question no one dared ask before was finally breeched. _

_"Minister Shacklebolt? Are you implying we're at war?"_

_"At this time, we are not at war. Deliberations are still being made. Thank you."_

Rose dropped the paper, feeling sick.

"What if we go to war with them, Hugh?" Rose turned to look at her younger brother. "What if?"

Hugo stared back at her. Rose looked away from him. She heard Hugo clear his throat before he answered her.

"We fight."

* * *

"Morning, Aunt Daph," Scorpius called despondently. Daphne Greengrass looked up from the small hand mirror she was holding.

"Morning. There's juice and coffee. And some bagels... You'll find something," she said, staring at her reflection again. Scorpius rolled his eyes and dragged the juice towards him, wincing as he put strain on his left side.

"You going to be okay to go today?" Daphne asked, looking up at her nephew. Scorpius stopped what he was doing to glare at her. Daphne raised her eyebrows and let out a low whistle.

"Okay, got it."

"I can't miss mom's...Funeral." Scorpius stumbled over the last word, closing his eyes against the grief. The unmistakable click of his Aunt's heels told him Daphne was headed toward him.

"Hey," Daphne whispered, engulfing her nephew in a hug. Scorpius put his arms around his Aunt to be polite. All he really wanted was to go back upstairs and crawl back into bed until the funeral. But his Aunt needed him, too.

Letting go of Scorpius with a sigh, Daphne patted his cheek before situating herself back on the barstool at the island in her expansive kitchen. Scorpius grabbed a piece of toast and took a bite.

"I'm going back to bed," he told his aunt. Daphne lowered the bright red lipstick she had been applying.

"It's 7:30, the funeral is at 8:00."

Scorpius just stared before taking another bite of toast.

"I'll be in my room," he said before turning and exiting the kitchen.

Scorpius walked quietly along the hall to his room in his Aunt's townhouse. In the past days, Scorpius had fought desperately to keep all thoughts of his mother away. The good ones, the bad one of that night; he didn't want to face that pain. But the purple and black bruise on his side brought that memory back every time.

"Hey, Scorp. I'm so sorry," Victrola said quietly as she, Albus and Rose walked up to give their condolences, closely followed by their parents.

"Thank you for being here," Scorpius replied mechanically. Victrola's face screwed up in concern, but she just nodded and moved in to hug Scorpius' father.

"Scorpius," Rose, who was last in their particular procession, stopped in front of him. Scorpius looked up at her. It was clear to Rose that he hadn't been sleeping; his face was gaunt and pale and there were shadows under his eyes. Wordlessly, she threw her arms around Scorpius' neck.

"I love you," she whispered. She felt his arms wrap tightly around her waist. He was breathing heavily, taking in deep, shuddering gasps. Rose just buried her face in his neck, holding him tightly.

"Don't leave me," Scorpius whispered so faintly, she was surprised she heard it.

"I promise," she whispered back.

* * *

**AN: First chapter, done! **

**I am loving the sequel. **

**Please don't be thrown off by the fact that Scorp's mom just died. He'll get better. **

**Review, Lovelies!**


	2. Let's Wade In The Water

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**AN: THANK YOU!  OMFG, you guys, really. Thank you to each and every one of my readers. For you, I continue on with this.**

**So, I'm probably just going to make up stores and shit, rather than pretend I know anything about England. **

** I have absolutely nothing personal against any country I may mention in this story. I'd like to make that fact very clear now.**

* * *

By the Tuesday after Astoria Malfoy's death, her husband and son had moved out of their luxurious mansion, sold it for a rather generous price, considering the tragedy associated with it, and had moved to a modest three bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom studio apartment in central London. The deceased's sister had fled the country in fear for her life.

Daphne Greengrass was not the only War veteran to do so.

_"...and apparently, the Smiths, the Goyles, and the Kensington-Zabinis have all left Europe entirely. There are more of my parents old schoolmates, but they don't have kids at Hogwarts. According to Dad, even though everyone believes the school's the world's safest place, this stuff is bringing back memories of the final battle..." _Rose had written in the letter he'd received this morning. He stared at her familiar neat cursive and felt a slight warmth that he hadn't felt since he'd held her at his Mum's funeral. There were days when he firmly believed that she was the only person that mattered to him anymore, with the exception of maybe Al, but he was like a brother, anyway, so it didn't count. And he loved Vic like a sister as well, so she was an exception, also.

Flopping back against the pillows on the new bed, in his new room, in this new apartment, Scorpius felt the small wasps of depression starting to get to him. He knew, with out a doubt, that if he continued to lay there, he'd fall into the despair and terror that usually only came at night. He couldn't allow the haunting memories of that day to attack him during the day, too. Scorpius refolded Rose's letter and stuck it in the back pocket of his jeans. Grabbing a dark blue jacket, he zipped it up over the plain t-shirt and stowed his wand safely up his sleeve. He exited his room and upon entry to the living room, saw his father holding a ornately framed picture in trembling hands.

"Dad," he said slowly. Malfoy Senior sniffed audibly before lowering the picture to his side and facing his son with red tinged eyes.

"Yeah?" he asked, swallowing and covertly wiping his face. Scorpius lowered his eyes.

"I'm going out," Scorpius told his father, knowing that no matter what was said to the contrary, he would be leaving the flat soon.

"That's probably not a good idea," Draco said cooly, clearly regaining his composure and preparing to try and force his son to listen to reason. Scorpius was having none of it.

"Yeah, well, what does it matter to you?" Scorpius snapped, instantly contrite. He had been walking on eggshells for the past few days, his anger slowly building towards his father, but had remained resiliently silent.

"It matters because there are people hunting us down, Scorpius!" Draco snapped back, refusing to let his clearly grieving and angry son get the better of him.

"Oh, screw you! What the fuck do you care, anyway? You only care about two things! Your job and your self!" Scorpius yelled, breathing heavily in anger. Draco tossed the photo gently on the couch before crossing the room until he was only a few feet from Scorpius.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that! I am your father! And I'll have you know that your mother was one of the most important things in my life, the other being you. Don't you dare insinuate that I don't care about you." Draco was speaking in a deadly calm voice, his vividly enraged eyes the only indication of his anger. Scorpius had just barely registered what his father had said. He was angry at his current situation in general, and since his father was the only thing available to scream at that would scream back, he wasn't backing down.

"Oh, please! Mum was your trophy wife! She loved you, and you were so preoccupied with work, we barely saw you! And when you were home, you were horrible to us!" Scorpius felt a mixture of intense sadistic pleasure and guilt at the way he was talking to his father, but he was too riled up to stop.

"How come you were never home, _Dad? _Huh? Was there someone else? How many of the nurses were you fucking?" Scorpius watched as his father went even paler than normal.

"Do you really think I could've ever cheated on your mother? I was lucky to have her, and I knew it. I worked all those hours to support us." Draco said, staring Scorpius down with hurt eyes. Scorpius was getting even angrier. He wanted his dad to fight him back, not admit defeat so easily.

"Yeah, you supported us alright," Scorpius spat maliciously. He narrowed his eyes.

"Face it: you are a coward. You were never home because you couldn't face Mum, knowing that you were so fucking pitiful. And because you're such a fucking pathetic loser, she's dead." Scorpius was breathing heavily, glaring with intense hatred at his father.

"I wish it had been you instead of Mum."

Scorpius spun on his heels, not able to face his father after what he'd just done. He had instantly regretted it the minute the words tumbled from his mouth, but there was no taking them back. Slamming the door to the apartment, Scorpius rushed to the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor. He was suddenly very thankful for the fact that they had been relocated to a Muggle area, because he dreaded the thought of the dueling match he was sure they would've gotten into back at their old home.

Once free of the elevator, he hurried past the doorman with a polite smile before making his way out onto the busy street. Integrating himself with in the Muggle masses, he headed for the most familiar place he could spot in his new home city. He, Al, and Victrola had frequented the area since she lived only a few blocks away, but he couldn't bear the thought of interrupting them with his problem now.

Scorpius walked on, to focused on his thoughts to really seem interested in any of the brightly colored displays in windows. His hood was up, his hands in his jacket pockets. He realized he looked rather like a juvenile delinquent, with his harsh appearance.

Even though he had passed his Apparation test at the beginning of the summer, he had yet to utilize his new mode of transportation. Quickly sidestepping between two buildings, he made his way to the back of a large brownstone. Checking for anyone looking, Scorpius visualized the Burrow, where he was relatively certain that Rose would be. If not, he'd at least secure a delicious meal from Mrs. Weasley, which was a benefit in itself.

With a crack, he disapparated from Muggle London, and, after what felt like an eternity of being twisted and crushed, reappeared in the golden wheat fields just outside the Burrow. After making his way through the thick underbrush, he finally reached the back door. Feeling torn between knocking and just going in, Scorpius chose the former, feeling that politeness was always the best option. Extending a fist to knock, he had barely grazed the door with his knuckles when it opened to reveal a harassed looking Mr. Weasley.

"Scorpius!" he said in surprise, setting the basket he'd been holding down before ushering him inside. Scorpius entered the house to the scent of fresh pie and cookies, instantly making his stomach rumble. Scorpius heard the door close with a click as Mr. Weasley left.

"Oh, Scorpius, dear! How have you been?" Mrs. Weasley said, her grandmotherly tone combined with the gentle hug she bestowed on him overpowering the cold cynicism he'd been working toward. But Scorpius was no where near as calculating and sardonic as Albus Potter. Even, he knew that. No, Scorpius, despite what he wanted to believe, let his emotions rule. So, Scorpius hugged her back, reveling in the simple care she was showing him.

"I'm fine," he responded, adding a simple one-shoulder shrug for effect. Mrs. Weasley smiled indulgently before patting his cheek.

"Go sit at the table, dear, and I'll get you some pie."

"Oh, no thanks Mrs. Wea-" Mrs. Weasley cut him off with a look.

"Nonsense. Sit, and I'll get your pie."

"Yes ma'am."

Scorpius sat at the well worn table, putting his elbows up and rubbing his face. Mrs. Weasley set a slice of lemon pie before him, taking the chair across the table from him.

"So. How are you, really?" Mrs. Weasley asked gently. Scorpius stared at her for a moment. She was the first to ask him that.

"Fine," he said, scooping up a big bite of pie and avoiding her knowing look.

"It feels like last time," Mrs. Weasley murmured. Scorpius stared at the whipped cream on the bright yellow pie.

"When the war was over, I came home with five sons instead of six," she began, twisting the hem of her apron in her hands. "My Fred died fighting. He died a hero's death, just like all the others. Your mother died to save you. She died protecting you. It's okay to grieve. When Fred died, I cried every morning, when I made breakfast. I cried at lunchtime. Dinner. Every day for six months. Every holiday with in a year. The worst is his birthday. Every year, on April first, I cry. Practically all day. But you know what? I can't help but to grieve, to this day, on his birthday and at Christmas. But I live my life every other day. It gets easier, I promise. I should know. In the first war, I lost my brothers. In the second, I lost my son. You grieve in different ways, but the pain is all the same. Just, don't bottle it up. Don't push it to the side. When you do that, it breaks you, full force."

Scorpius gripped the spoon with white knuckles. She was right, he knew it. He'd been acting mechanically, acting so cold and distant.

"And, talk to your father. Merlin knows he was a brat as a child, but he really loves you."

"I can't. I can't talk to him, Mrs. Weasley," Scorpius said, grasping the topic that wouldn't leave him sobbing and running with it.

"Why not?"

"Because... Because the last thing I said to him today was really mean." Scorpius closed his eyes tightly.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Mrs. Weasley says consolingly, reaching out to grasp his hand. Scorpius jerked it out of her reach, clenching his fists in his lap.

"I told him I wished he'd died instead of Mum," Scorpius whispered, staring at the pie but not really seeing it. He was ashamed, oh Merlin was he ashamed of himself for those words. Because he he'd have been just as devastated if it had been his father instead. He would of regretted things he'd left unsaid, not making an effort to talk to him.

They sat there, not saying anything for a while. Scorpius sat in his chair, half eaten pie in front of him, his head in his hands. Mrs. Weasley sat across from him, just looking at him, at a loss for once as to what advice to give.

* * *

**_Minister Shacklebolt Declares War On Albania_**

_It was announced today at three o'clock, that Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt has officially declared war on the Albanian Ministry of Magic. The news comes to us after several reports of attacks on witches and wizards from Britain in other countries. _

_"No one is safe, as of right now, but we're taking every step to protect our people. The military we have been organizing is now enlisting as we speak. Applicants must be seventeen or older and must have the qualifying OWL scores to be approved. Those that are signing up during their final year at Hogwarts will be trained at the school, to ensure that their education is continued and uninterrupted unless the situation worsens. As of right now, only 200 new recruits will be needed immediately. Those still in school will be trained and..." _

Albus set the paper down on the kitchen table, not bothering to read anymore. He wasn't quite sure what he was feeling, but he knew that one major thing going on for him was his conflicting wants. For one, he wanted to finish school. Since he was eight, he'd wanted to become a Healer. One that specialized in children's diagnostics, specifically. He'd gotten sick with dragon pox that year, and it had attacked his immune system so severely, he'd been hospitalized for a month. He'd been terrified, in pain, and delirious from the raging fever, but his Healer hadn't made him feel any better with her terrible bedside manner. After he had been released, he'd made it his goal to never let a child feel that way when they're already sick.

He'd taken a summer internship before his sixth year, and was back, working from 8 AM to 4 PM Monday through Friday. He worked in the children's ward, under the guidance of the ward's supervisor, Healer McCallister. He was highly commended for his work at the hospital and the classes he took at school as well, and was guaranteed a job a year after his graduation, instead of the four it took new Hogwarts graduates.

But on the other hand, he wanted to join the Regent Army, which is what the soldiers who weren't from the Auror's Office or DMLE were called.

So, on Tuesday morning, Albus owled Healer McCallister and told him that he'd be late. And as Albus apparated into the designated area in Muggle London, instead of following the few other Healers, Nurses, and interns to the street St. Mungo's was on, he followed the rather large crowd to the Ministry Apparation Terminals.

Albus breathed deeply, knowing that what he was doing was right. He walked through the Atrium, nodding succinctly to some of the faces he recognized.

"Albie!" he heard a familiar voice call from behind him. Albus turned to see James walking towards him. Albus rolled his eyes.

"What, James? I'm in a hurry," Albus said with a hint of annoyance that didn't go unnoticed by his brother.

"Oooh! Testy, are we? And what brings you to the Ministry? Isn't your usual haunt the hospital?" James responded jovially, matching Albus' stride as he walked toward the lifts. The brothers managed to get one to themselves, and were caged in as the elevator started to move.

"So, are you going to explain why you are here, dearest brother?" James asked, leaning back on his heels. Albus ignored him as the cool female voice sounded, alerting them of the offices on the second level.

"I don't see how it's any of your business," he countered, staring at his reflection in the mirrored gold doors of the lift.

"Oh, Albie. I'm an Auror. Suspicious people infiltrating the Ministry is my only concern," James sighed, nodding towards him.

Albus huffed loudly and shook his head.

"You're really annoying, Jamsey," Albus sighed back sarcastically. He'd missed the last level's departments, and had no idea where registration was.

"James, where's the enlisting office? Is it in the Auror's Headquarters or the DMLE?" Albus asked.

"Depends. First you go to the actual RA Register, then they send you to either one depending... on... " James trailed off, turning to look at Albus.

"You're not enlisting."

James didn't phrase it as a question, but Albus treated it as one.

"Actually, I am." Albus replied conversationally. James moved to fully stand before Albus.

"No. No, Dad won't allow it. Mum, Uncle Ron. No one will let you."

Albus scoffed. "I'm seventeen. If I want to enlist, which I do, I will," he said with finality.

"No! You can't!" James began, but was cut off by the female voice.

_"Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Auror Headquarters, and the Office of Regent Army Recruitment, Level Five."_

Albus glanced at James briefly before pushing past him, leaving him speechless in the lift and entering Level Five. He knew it was rude to do that to his brother. Albus hoped that he wouldn't tell their parents yet. He knew, though, that Lily would know by lunchtime.

Looking around, he noticed the signs pointing out the directions to each major office. He walked toward the hallway that led to the Recruitment Office. Pulling open the frosted glass door, he entered the offices, taking in the clean, modern feel to it. Albus walked up to the woman behind a large wooden desk, staring at the official Army seal on the wall behind her.

"Office of the Regent Army, can I help you?" she asked, smiling cheerfully up at him.

"Uh, yes, I have an appointment with Moira Hawkins?" he said. The woman nodded and looked down at a thick log book.

"Albus Potter?"

"Yeah, I mean, yes."

"Down the hall, to the right." Albus nodded.

He breathed deeply, walking quickly down the hall. He came up to the dark wooden door with a gold plate that read, "**First ****Lieutenant Moira Hawkins, Office of Recruitment"**

Albus hesitated before knocking twice.

"Come in!" he heard and opened the door slowly.

"Ah yes, you must be Mr. Potter." Lt. Hawkins smiled as she stood up from behind her desk. Albus nodded and walked forward, grasping her outstretched hand in a solid handshake. The indicated one of the chairs in front of her desk and he sat. He glanced quickly around her rather large office, taking in the certificates, medals, and flags, as well as the shelves of books and odd, multicultural items on her desk and between books on the shelves.

"So, Mr. Potter, you are applying for a medical specialist position, is that correct?" Lt. Hawkins began, opening what he assumed to be a file on him on her desk. It was rather thick, in his opinion, about the size of his old Muggle Driver's Education Booklet.

"Yes, that's right," Albus replied. Lt. Hawkins looked up, grinning.

"Why? I want to hear your reasons for applying for such a position." She folded her hands in front of her, looking at him.

"Oh, well, I've been studying children's diagnostics for almost two years now. I work as an intern at St. Mungo's under Healer McCallister. I was originally going to apply just as a reserve, but the recruiter at the hospital suggested I look into specializing. I was thinking about field medicine or emergency medics." Albus felt as if he'd finished rather lamely, but Hawkins just appraised him with her dark eyes.

"Well, Mr. Potter, looking at your test scores from the hospital, you would qualify in a heartbeat. Your academics are exceptional, really. But here are the facts: to specialize in medicine, especially emergency/field medicine, you would need the necessary training. On top of that, in order to get a job in the Army, you must have a certain level of combat training, depending on what your job is. A specialist needs the same amount of training as a soldier and needs the training from their field. Now, there are few Healers who are willing to leave the hospital, even in this war, so even if you don't specialize, with your medical background, there is a good chance that if this war gets bloody, you will be pulled from school before your classmates will even be considered.

"Mr. Potter, the RA would be delighted to have you. It had been discussed, and we are prepared to make arrangements for you and two other classmates that are specializing to take specialized classes in place of your NEWT levels and get your basic training with the others at Hogwarts who are enlisting as soldiers."

Albus mulled over her proposition quietly. A thought occurred to him.

"I would be the youngest medical specialist, wouldn't I?" he asked. Lt. Hawkins smiled.

"Yes. You would have to work hard, Mr. Potter. It will be difficult."

"I know." He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Exhaling, Albus looked back up at Lt. Hawkins.

"I'd like to do it. I want to do it."

"Very well. Congratulations... Specialist Potter."

* * *

"So, then he says that he wants to ship everything to Dublin, which is just completely unnecessary," Rose's Uncle Percy drones on. She loves him, she really does, but there are, like, 23 other people at the table. Why does he have to talk to her? Uncle Bill, Aunt Fleur, Uncle George, Aunt Angelina, Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, Uncle Percy, Aunt Penelope, all of their kids, her grandparents; every Weasley in the country was at the table. All she knew was that one of her cousins had some announcement. She wasn't sure which. She and Lily had tried to guess when they'd began dinner. Lily had said that it was that Teddy had finally popped the question, but Rose had pointed out that Teddy wasn't even here, so it couldn't have been.

"Maybe James finally knocked some girl up," Lily whispered to her, hiding her statement behind her glass of tea. Rose looked down the table at James, who was laughing with Uncle George. He looked just as lively and joking as always.

"I don't think so," Rose whispered back. "Maybe one of the Aunts is having another kid."

"Well, it's not my mom," Lily murmured. "And I doubt it's yours, either. And it sure as hell isn't Aunt Pen."

"Maybe one of the families is, you know, _moving_," Lily said. Rose paused.

"Not possible. They wouldn't run like that," Rose defended.

"You're right," Lily sighed. The cousins ate in silence until Freddie stood up.

"Can I get everyone's attention?" he asked, looking at everyone. When Albus and Louis continued to converse, Freddie rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I said shut it!" he called down the table to them, chucking a dinner roll at Louis who had rolled his eyes at his older cousin.

"Now, I was the one who ordered this splendid dinner," he started, inclining his head to his grandmother regally. Freddie closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"So, as you know, I've been dating my awesome girlfriend Sadie for quite some time now. Well, I asked her to marry me. And she said yes."

The table was dead silent as everyone stared at Freddie, who just looked into his glass of water silently.

"What?" Uncle George asked, looking from his clearly shocked wife to his son.

"I'm getting married," Freddie reiterated.

"Oh, my God! She's pregnant, isn't she?" Aunt Angelina cried. Freddie blanched.

"No! No!" Freddie shouted. He laughed uncomfortably. "Probably should have started with that. No, I did not get Sadie pregnant. I just really love her."

"Congratulations," Aunt Ginny said hesitantly. Freddie nodded, but continued to look into his water.

"Why? You just graduated, for Merlin's sake!" Angelina raged. Freddie swallowed, before speaking.

"I'm enlisting," he whispered. George's eyes widened and the color drained from his face.

"No. No, Freddie, no," he said sternly. Freddie looked up.

"I'm eighteen. I've graduated. I have my own flat, I have a job, I have my own life! Besides, I already did. It's done."

Rose looked helplessly around at her family. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were staring at each other, their hands clasped on the table tightly. Uncle Bill was stroking Aunt Fleur's hair as she leaned into his shoulder. Victiore and Dominique were hugging a tearful Roxanne. Rose's parents were whispering quietly, holding hands. Albus was staring at James, an odd look on his face. When Rose looked at him, she noticed that James looked sick to his stomach. She attributed it to his close friendship with Freddie. That is, until she saw him look up at Albus and shake his head, a pleading look on his face. Rose suddenly felt cold. She turned to Lily, but froze when she noticed her younger cousin looking at her middle brother tearfully.

"You, too?" Rose asked, far too loudly than she'd intended. Albus just looked at her, his face devoid of emotion.

"I'm of age. I signed up yesterday." he responded. He and Freddie looked at each other in understanding.

"Albus. Albus, please," his mother whispered. Albus just looked at her sadly.

"Son, you're giving up your medical career to fight?" Harry said calmly, but with an unspoken authority. Albus shook his head.

"No, I'm specializing in Emergency Field Medicine. And, after the war, I'll go back to children's diagnostics."

The entire table was quiet. Some were quietly pushing food around on their plates while others were sobbing quietly. Then, someone cleared their throat.

"I'm gay," Hugo said before smirking and taking a sip of his tea.

* * *

**AN: Wow. 4k+ words for you all to enjoy. And, hopefully enjoy it, you will. **

**Review, darlings! You shall be rewarded next weekend with a chapter!**


	3. Bubble Pop Electric

**AN: hahaha, threw you guys off with that last chapter, didn't I? Weird. Everyone's like ohemgee, Hugo's gay? When I wrote it, I was like, "Shit, Sadie and Freddie are engaged, Albus is enlisting, Freddie's enlisting, what can I do to take away from the seriousness?" So I added that last bit right before I updated. Wow.**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing that you recognize.**

* * *

The entire table was silent as they stared at Hugo.

"Oh. Um. Really? Are you... really?" Ron asked awkwardly. Hermione was staring open-mouthed at Hugo and Rose was staring straight ahead, trying to find the hints and clues to this admission.

"Because, well, we love you son, no matter what. We, uh, we love you for...uh, who you are." Ron was twisting his napkin fiercely in his hands, avoiding Hugo's eyes.

"Not gay, Dad," Hugo said, smirking in the weird way the entire family had long gotten used to. "Just trying to diffuse the tension."

Ron was visibly relieved, leaning back in his chair. Hermione relaxed and several other family members chuckled quietly. But Lily was the one to burst into her obnoxious guffaws.

"You should've seen your faces!" she cried, tears of laughter beginning to flow. Hugo was smiling and laughing quietly.

Light chatter began to start between the groups around the table, just as if it was another Weasley dinner. As everyone else distracted themselves, Bill leaned toward the two people closest to him, Albus and Fleur, and whispered, "Was it just me, or were either of you... unsurprised?"

Fleur and Albus nodded slowly, glancing at Hugo to see if he heard. Thankfully, he was too busy talking with Lily to have noticed them.

"Oh, good. I would've felt bad if it was just me," Bill whispered.

"It worked though, I mean, no one is crying over your and Freddie's...news," Fleur said delicately to her nephew. Albus just shrugged, pushing some peas around his plate.

"The flood gates will open when we all go home. I'll be questioned and cried at and Fred will be screamed and then cried over, too."

"Do you honestly believe you're making the right choice?" Bill asked him. Albus looked up at the Uncle he'd always kind of liked the most.

"I do. I really do."

Bill nodded and shrugged. "Then no one can tell you what you can and can't do."

* * *

"So, Hugo just blurts out he's gay, but he isn't really, and then it got quiet and Albus is enlisting and now you're getting married," Rose sighed, falling back onto the bed in Freddie and Sadie's new flat. Freddie snorted, tossing a shirt at Rose.

"Yeah, what was that?" Freddie asked, chuckling. "I mean, Hugo says nothing at all, ever and then just suddenly blurts out the single most awkward statement, like, ever. I mean, if he was, cool, but he isn't. And... I don't know. Your brother is strange, Posie." Freddie shook his head, tossing a shirt into a drawer.

"Fred, you've got to fold those, you dork," Sadie rolled her eyes.

"Sadie!" he whined, stomping. Sadie turned away from the closet, her hands on her hips.

"Freddie." She pierced him with a look.

"Fine." He grumbled, grabbing the shirt and folding it into a misshapen lump before dropping it into the drawer. Rose cracked up before she was pelted by a pair of jeans and a summer dress.

Rose tossed the clothes back to their respective throwers and sat up. She crossed her legs on the bed and looked around. The master bedroom in the flat was painted a pleasant ivory. All the furniture was made of a dark cherry wood. On the walls were pictures of their friends and families. She saw Sadie's favorite picture, the one of her and her brothers. Sadie had been eight, her oldest brother, Chase, was thirteen, and her youngest brother Jake had been five. They were jumping around and laughing hysterically in the picture.

"How did your family take it?" Rose asked, looking away from the photo. Sadie paused in her act if putting a winter coat in the closet before turning around to grab another.

"They weren't exactly thrilled. But I explained the situation and they know how much I love Freddie, so they understand, I guess. I mean, Dad's walking me down the aisle, Mum's gonna be crying happily in the front row of my side, Chase'll get drunk and hit on your half-veela cousins and Dylan will be sneaking drinks along side him. It'll all be good fun," Sadie shrugged. Freddie and Rose looked at each other.

"Don't sound too thrilled, Sadie, or Rose'll think your excited."

Rose laughed lightly.

"When's the wedding?" Rose asked, twisting the threads hanging from one of the rips in her jeans. Sadie and Freddie glanced at each other.

"That's the thing... It's, well, it's on... Sunday."

Rose froze and looked up at them.

"Sunday? As in this upcoming Sunday? As in _seven_ days from now?" Rose asked, looking from Sadie to Freddie in bewilderment. Freddie just rubbed the back of his neck nervously as Sadie slid a large cream-colored garment bag from the back of their closet.

"Fred, go make us lunch, please." Sadie said, gently laying the bag on the bed.

"But, why?" Freddie asked indignantly.

Sadie huffed and threw up her hands.

"It's bad luck to see the bride in her dress," Sadie cried. Freddie stuck his tongue out at her before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. Rose looked back at Sadie as she unzipped the bag. Rose couldn't exactly make out every detail of the dress, but judging by the floaty, silky material that seemed to move like liquid and float like air as Sadie removed the dress. Rose could tell it was expensive.

"It's got a lot of buttons," Sadie said almost apologetically as she turned so her back faced Rose once she put the dress on. Rose was speechless, but got up to help Sadie with the long line of pure pearl buttons along the back. After a few minutes of Rose gently sliding the buttons in their assigned silk loop, as she was terrified of hurting the dress somehow, Sadie turned to face Rose.

"The shoes are pretty simple, but I think the dress is gorgeous enough to pull them off," she said, sliding her feet into a pair of rather plain black pumps.

Rose was sitting speechless on the bed, just staring at her best friend. The dress was made of cream silk and lace, with a tight strapless bodice. The skirt, Sadie said, was a "split petal trumpet" or it was tight up until her thigh are before flaring out. Around the waist of the dress was a single black silk ribbon that was tied in a perfect bow in the middle of her back. The dress itself was lace over silk. The silk underneath was fitted up against the lace until the "split" part of the "trumpet". The dress had a short bit of a train, enough to billow prettily when she walked, but not enough for anyone to get caught on. Even though it was much more couture than Rose would ever choose for herself, the effect with Sadie's elegant golden blonde hair and navy blue eyes was beautiful.

"Wow, Sadie." Rose whispered. Sadie rolled her teary eyes.

"No one will even glance at me when you're standing next to me," Sadie joked. Rose laughed tearfully until she assessed Sadie's words.

"Next to you...?" She trailed off. Sadie sat down next to her on the foot of the bed.

"Maid of Honor? Promise?" Sadie asked, holding up her hand, pinky extended in their old "promise me, sister" thing they'd started in fourth year. Rose interlocked their pinkies.

"Promise," Rose said, hugging her closest friend.

As Sadie took of the dress, Rose couldn't help but think about the other two people they'd used to do "promise me" with. She suddenly felt extremely sad. She'd barely spoken to Daphne since summer began and she hadn't spoken to Masen at all since their fight.

"Hey, are Daph and Masen invited?" she asked Sadie.

"Well, yeah. I was just going to owl the invites, though, just like everyone else's."

"Can I do it?" Rose asked, looking up at Sadie pleadingly. Sadie seemed to understand. She walked over to the edge of her bed and crouched down, getting extracting a designer shoe box out from under her bed.

Lifting the lid, she sorted through a row of sealed enveloped briefly before pulling two out.

"Here," she sighed, handing them to Rose. "Be polite, though, please. I actually want them there," she teased.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Please. I am nothing if not polite," she said before she was hit by a pillow that Sadie had chucked at her.

"Go tell my _fiancée_," Sadie rolled her eyes with exaggerated flair, "to get his butt back in here. I am not putting all these clothes away by myself."

* * *

"So," Draco said, leaning against the counter. Scorpius stared at his shoes.

"Look, I know we haven't exactly got along, son, but," Draco began. Scorpius looked up.

"Dad, I'm so sorry. I honestly didn't mean what I said," he whispered. Draco sighed.

"I know, Scorpius. I really do. I mean, it doesn't make it hurt any less, but I know you don't mean it now." Draco ran a hand over his tired face.

"I wish it was me. Every day." Scorpius stared at his dad.

"I miss Mum, but there's nothing we can do to bring her back. All we can do is grieve and live the rest of our lives the way she'd want us to: happy and remembering the fun we had while she was here. But Dad, I know she would be so disappointed in me. In us. Let's face it, we've both messed up. But we should try and do better from now on. For her and for us."

Draco just stared at Scorpius with his piercing gray eyes. A small smile slowly spread across his face. "When did you get so smart?"

Scorpius scoffed weakly. "Dad, I've always been smart."

Draco laughed and rolled his eyes. "Ravenclaw ingenuity?"

"You know it."

They both laughed softly. Then, their laughter slowly began to escalate until they were both laughing so hard, they were clutching rib cages and wiping eyes.

The laughter slowly died, leaving a breathless Draco sitting on the kitchen floor, back against the oven and Scorpius practically laying in the stiff wooden chair at the table, staring up at the ceiling.

"Lunch?" Draco asked suddenly. Scorpius rolled his head around to look at his Dad.

"Are you offering to make some or buy some?" he asked. Draco considered for a second, staring at the box on the table labeled '_new kitchen stuff'_.

"Buying."

Scorpius looked back up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, alright," he said, getting up and offering a hand to his dad. Draco stood up with a groan, letting go of his son's hand. Scorpius grinned.

"Getting old there?"

Draco jokingly smacked Scorpius on the back of the head.

"No. The floor was just hard."

Scorpius laughed. "Alright, Dad. Keep telling yourself that."

* * *

"So, how did Victrola take the news?" Rose asked Albus as she flicked through racks of dresses with Sadie. It was originally just going to be the two girls, but as they'd left Rose's house, they'd run into a forlorn and abused looking Albus. They'd taken pity on him and dragged him along with them to go bridesmaids dress shopping. With a quick owl to Scorpius, they'd invited him along, too, and we expecting him to arrive soon.

"She was pissed," Albus said, leaning against a rack of dresses.

"Al, you wince in pain every few seconds. Clearly there's something you're not telling us," Sadie walked up to him and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "Does she hit you, sweetie?"

Albus laughed and pushed her hand away. "Only this once."

Rose extracted an olive green dress from the rack. "Well how did you tell her?" she asked, holding the dress up to her before deciding it was too mermaid-y.

"I just went to her house, sat her down, and told her."

"I hope you didn't tell her in the kitchen. Freddie did, and he was lucky he'd had the sense to hide the knives."

Rose laughed, "Did she just punch you, then?"

"'Nah," Sadie shook her head. "Slater's the type that would be afraid of bruising her knuckles. I bet she threw stuff at you."

Albus avoided their knowing gazes by grabbing a dress off the rack and pretending to look at it.

"She threw things at you! What was it?" Sadie asked, bemused.

"A shoe," he mumbled. Rose and Sadie snorted and tried to hide their laughter unsuccessfully.

"Okay, let's get serious. We need to find a dress for Rose," Sadie said, turning back to the rack closest to her. They looked in silence, the sounds of other customers and the salespeople's talking with the click of dresses on hangers the only sounds. Occasionally, Rose or Albus would hold up a dress, only to be shot down by Sadie.

There was a soft tinkle of the bell over the door, alerting the arrival of new customers. The three paid no mind until two people walked up to them.

"Scorpius!" Rose called happily, dropping the dress she was holding on the plush pink silk armchair before running and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Hey," he smiled at her. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.

"Love you," he whispered against her lips.

"I love you," she whispered back.

"Okay, enough. My eggs Benedict is threatening to reappear," Victrola's snide voice broke through to them. Scorpius turned to look at her, still keeping a hold of Rose.

"Oh, shut up, Vic and kiss your boyfriend."

"C'mon, guys, we need to find a dress for Rose," Sadie said, holding up several dresses.

"You shoot down every one we pick," Albus said from his rack, waving around a garish orange and pink ball gown. Sadie rolled her eyes.

"That's because every dress you choose looks like that," she responded, waving her hands in the direction of the eye sore he was holding.

"What are you looking for, exactly?" Scorpius asked, looking at the veils and picking up a huge one made of pure white tulle.

Sadie paused, thinking.

"I'm thinking a simple black cocktail dress."

Scorpius and Albus both stopped playing with the veils and looked at her.

"Black? Isn't that a bit... I dunno, _morbid_ for a wedding?"

"No," Victrola answered from another rack near Rose's. "It's actually very popular."

Sadie nodded. "Black is slimming, goes with anything, looks good on every one... Why not?"

"Well, according to Mrs. Weasley, you're having it in their garden this Sunday..." he trailed off, hoping one of the girls would see his point. The three just stared back before turning back to their dress search.

Scorpius pushed his veil out of his face. "Isn't it, like, eighty degrees outside?" he muttered to Albus.

Albus shrugged under his lace veil. "Just don't question it."

After a few more minutes of the girls squealing over dresses and the boys seeing who could find the worst veil and dress combination, Sadie called a saleswoman over.

"We're ready to have my Maid of Honor here try these on," she smiled politely, indicating the rolling clothes rack with at least twenty dresses on it.

"Of course!" the salesclerk, who's tag read "Millie" said brightly. She led the group over to one of the private dressing rooms.

"This is the waiting room," Millie said indicating the couch that faced the small square platform directly in front of three multi-view mirrors.

The other four sat down and waited as Millie led Rose to the "dressing antechamber". After Rose and the dresses were safely situated, Millie came back out.

"I'll be right out there if you need anything."

"Thank you," Sadie trilled brightly. As Millie exited, several house elves in pure white sheaths entered, carrying trays of dainty little cookies, sandwiches, and flutes of what looked like champagne. They deposited the trays on the mirrored coffee table before curtsying and leaving.

"Are there... _flowers_ in the champagne?" Albus asked, lifting the lace veil obscuring his face to take a closer look.

"Yes, it's called a 'Wild Hibiscus Champagne Cocktail'. I'm having these at the wedding," Sadie said, sipping hers.

Scorpius stared at the vibrant red flower, watching as the bubbles rolled off the pointy leaves and up into the light red champagne.

"You eat the flower. They taste kind of like raspberries," Victrola told him. Scorpius looked at Albus.

"And here goes my manhood," he muttered before taking a gulp. Scorpius fought the urge to laugh.

"Not bad," Albus winced, the bubbles burning his nose from the overlarge sip.

They were interrupted by Rose, who twirled in wearing a sparkly black dress. She marched up onto the platform and struck an obnoxious pose.

"No," Sadie shook her head rapidly, crinkling her nose. Rose looked instantly relieved.

"Good. It's too complicated to put on and the sequins itch," she said before walking back into the dressing room. They sat through fifteen more dresses, some that were pretty decent in terms of what Sadie was looking for, and then there were the ones that were obviously snuck in by Scorpius and Albus. There was a bright red minidress that barely reached past Rose's butt (Scorpius fully claimed sneaking the dress on the rack), a dress entirely made of peacock feathers with a floaty blue train, a zebra striped dress, a shapeless sack dress in brown, a bright yellow one-shouldered dress with rhinestones, and a pink ball gown with puffy shoulders, for which Victrola laughingly claimed.

"I really like this one, Sadie," Rose said as she walked out. It was a black cocktail dress that just grazed her knees. It was strapless, and made of black satin. It had a full skirt that billowed out, and a shimmery gold lace-like pattern that covered the left breast of the top and faded diagonally to just above the right knee. The effect was pleasant and eye catching.

"I'm not sure it's right for your wedding, though. I mean, the gold, it's just so...visible," Rose continued. She looked up and saw Sadie smiling.

"That's it."

Rose looked to the others. Scorpius was eating a sugar cookie and staring at the floor and Albus was laying halfway in Scorpius' lap, watching the bubbles in his champagne pop. Rose rolled her eyes and looked at the girls. They were both smiling.

"I'll go get the saleslady," Victrola said, getting up. Rose looked back at Sadie.

"It's perfect," she said. Rose nodded and turned to go change.

Sadie looked at the two boys next to her.

"You both look lovely in your veils," she giggled.

"Thanks," Scorpius mumbled, still eating his cookie. Albus sat up slowly, looking at her.

"Thank you," he whispered, looking at her oddly.

"Are you two drunk?" she laughed, staring at the coffee table. There was only the single bottle of champagne, but Sadie guessed it was charmed to refill continuously.

"No," Scorpius said defensively.

"It's posssssiblllllllee," Albus slurred. Judging by their actions, Sadie guessed that Albus had far more to drink than Scorpius.

"How many glasses of champagne did you both have?" she asked. Scorpius thought for a minute, holding out his hand to count.

"Four," he said.

Sadie nodded and looked at Albus, who flopped back on the couch, still half on Scorpius' lap and closed his eyes.

"I losssshhht count affer twooo."

Rose happened to walk in at that moment, her dress on its hanger.

"Okay, done," she sighed, picking up a sandwich. She glanced at her boyfriend to her cousin. Taking in their appearance, she tugged Albus' glass from his hand, against his wishes, and took a sip.

"Champagne?" she giggled, finishing the little bit left in the glass. She nearly spit it up when she caught sight of Albus' heartbroken look.

"Here, eat your flower," she said, handing him the flute. Albus upturned the glass, devouring the flower in one go.

Victrola walked in just then.

"So Millie said to just-"

"Lola!" Albus shouted, sitting up fast and then clutching his head.

Victrola just looked at him before shaking her head in exasperation.

"Millie said to leave the other dresses and the cookies and stuff in here, but to bring the dress up to the check out counter."

Sadie sighed. "Alright, I'll go pay for the dress and you two sneak these two out."

Rose looked at her. "I'll pay for the dress, Sayd, really."

Sadie rolled her eyes and snatched the dress from Rose's grip.

"My wedding, my expenses. You just get Tipsy and Smashed out of here."

Sadie turned to leave but not before she walked back over to the couch. Taking the tags off the veils, she grinned.

"Let's let them keep them as a souvenir. They're on sale, anyway," she laughed before leaving to go pay. Victrola and Rose looked at each other.

"C'mon, Smashed," Victrola giggled, using Sadie's new nickname for Albus. She threw one of his arms around her shoulder and tried to heave him up.

Rose took Scorpius' hands and pulled him up, Albus' legs sliding off his lap and on to the floor along with the rest of him.

"Oops," Scorpius giggled tipsily. Rose smirked and left him swaying before she leaned down to help Victrola with Albus. The girls managed to heave him up into a standing position.

"Scorpius, can you walk on your own?" Rose muttered, straining under Albus' weight with Victrola. To the girls relief, he nodded and only stumbled slightly to the door, his fluffy veil swaying.

"I reallly looove you, Lola," Albus slurred loudly as they started to the door. Victrola shushed him.

"Love you, too. But let's play a game. It's called the Quiet Game. The rules are, we all have to be as quiet as possible," she hissed, "Until we get out of the store."

"Ok," Albus murmured. The four of them managed to get out of the store with minimal stares. They stood there and waited until Sadie came out carrying a light pink garment bag with the store's logo on it.

"Alright, let's go," she said happily. Victrola and Rose looked at her.

"Go where?" Rose asked, throwing her hands up. "My parents are home, Al's parents are home, my grandparents are home. We can't take him to any of my relatives now."

"Cheers," Albus said feebly from his spot on the ground.

"My dad's home, too, and he'll definitely tell your mom," Victrola said to Rose.

Sadie looked on and huffed.

"We can't take them to mine," Sadie said. "I'm going out to dinner with Freddie in an hour. Drunk and Drunker will pass out long before then."

"Just drop us off at my Dad's place," Scorpius said, slowly trying to walk in a straight line.

The three girls looked at each other.

"You want us to just drop you two off at your apartment and go?" Sadie asked skeptically.

Scorpius nodded, his veil bouncing. "My dad's used to it."

"That's true," Victrola conceded. Sadie looked to Rose who shrugged.

"Alright, let's go," Sadie said, hitching the dress bag back over her shoulder. Rose and Victrola both groaned before lifting a slow, semi-conscious Albus back between them, an arm across each shoulder.

"Lola, you're reeeaaally pretty. Like, suuuper beutfool," Albus slurred. Victrola snorted and said to Rose, "You know how some people are talkative drunks, and others are, like, paranoid or slutty drunks? Al, here, is what Scorp and I like to call a "complementative" drunk. He complements people all the time. It's funny."

Rose chuckled. "I can tell."

They walked for two blocks, Albus spewing his complements and Scorpius stumbling along happily. They got quite a few chuckles at the boy's veils and drunken state. Finally they reached Scorpius' building.

"To the elevator!" Scorpius shouted in the empty lobby, pointing straight ahead. They all climbed in and Scorpius pushed the 'Five' button.

As they started to rise, Albus jerked up.

"Oh Shiit!" he slurred in alarm.

"You've been on the Ministry lifts, Al!" Scorpius said. Albus just looked at him.

"Yeah, but thesssse were made by _Mugglesss_!" he hissed. The girls all stifled their laughs in their palms.

The elevator dinged open and they walked out, with the exception of Albus, who stumbled out. Albus forced the girls to let him take the short walk from the elevator to Scorpius' front door. When he reached the door, he threw it open and called, "Mr. Malfoy! I'm home!"

It was too much for the girls. Rose was leaning on the wall for support and Victrola and Sadie were leaning against each other as they laughed at the look on Draco Malfoy's face.

"Dad!" Scorpius stumbled forward to his awestruck father and hugged him.

Sadie was the first to regain her composure.

"We're sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but Scorpius and Albus came with us today when we went shopping for a dress for Rose for my wedding, and they took advantage of the complementary champagne,"she told him apologetically. "Scorpius told us to bring them here."

Mr. Malfoy nodded.

"I see," he said, pushing Scorpius' veil out of his face.

"I'll, uh, I'll take it from here," he said, extracting himself from his son's grip and leading him to the couch where Albus was already laying.

"Pleash don't tell my parentssss," Albus slurred. Mr. Malfoy chuckled.

"I most definitely will not," he said.

"Bye, Mr. Malfoy," the girls called, exiting the apartment. They walked in silence and got into the elevator. It wasn't until the doors closed did any of them speak.

"So, are you having a bachelorette party?" Victrola asked. Sadie shrugged.

"Not sure. I mean, the wedding's only four days away," Sadie said.

"Who's Freddie's best man?" Rose asked. She was amazed that she didn't know.

"His best friend, Max," Sadie said.

"Max Saunders?" Victrola asked. Sadie nodded.

"Oh, man. That speech will entertaining," Victrola chuckled. Sadie nodded and laughed too.

"Speech?" Rose asked. Sadie and Victrola looked at her.

"The Best Man and Maid of Honor give speeches at the reception," Sadie told her. Rose looked away.

"Oh, crap," she whispered.

Victrola laughed. "Sounds like your speech will be, too."

"Oh, please. I'll write an excellent speech. Don't you worry."

The elevator doors opened and the three got out.

"So, I forgot to ask, how did it go with Daphne and Masen?" Sadie asked as they walked out of the building and onto the sidewalk.

"Bye, guys. My house is that way," Victrola said, pointing in the opposite direction. The other two waved and called their goodbyes as she walked away.

"Well, it was awkward at first, of course. But it mellowed out after a bit," Rose shrugged. Sadie laughed.

"Yeah, well, I never got why Masen was _so_ pissed at you." Rose looked up at her.

"What do you mean?"

Sadie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I get you two were, like, twins, but that kind of doesn't explain why he was that angry. I mean, you two didn't speak for months."

Rose stared ahead. "What are you getting at?"

Sadie stopped, looking down as she turned before looking up at Rose.

"I'm saying... That... I kind of... Thought that maybe he was..." Sadie stopped, taking a breath and looking away. Rose didn't take her eyes off a sign directly behind Sadie's head.

"He was what, Sayd...What?" she said, but her voice barely came out as more that a whisper.

"That he was in love with you." Sadie said gently. Rose looked her in the eye.

"He's with Daphne now. And besides, I'd always thought of him as my twin brother."

Sadie looked at Rose with sad eyes. "Yeah, _you_ did. But it's possible that he thought of you as more than a twin sister."

* * *

**AN: Next chapter, the wedding :)**

**and just for reference:**

**Sadie's Dress: A combo of a dress from Monique Lhuillier's Fall 2011 collection and a bit of Vera Wang's Fall 2010 thrown in.**

**Rose's Dress: From Monique Lhuillier's Spring 2010 collection, with a slight change.**

**Oh! And that flower-and-champagne stuff; it's real. I saw it in my friend's bridal magazine once and reaallllly want it at my own wedding. It's so pretty. They're actual hibiscus flowers soaked in syrup from Australia. They turn the champagne (or Sprite or whatever) red-ish pink, like a Shirley Temple. **

**Anyway, review, darlings!**


	4. Teenage Dream

_**AN: sorry for the wait. I just couldn't seem to get this chapter right, so it took me a few tries :( I hope you all like this one; it's my third attempt...**_

**Disclaimer: I wish. But, I must state here that I do not own the bits and pieces from Sadie's and Freddie's vows. They belong to: West Side Story, The Notebook, When Harry Met Sally, Moulin Rouge, and Runaway Bride. But not in that order. **

* * *

"I really hate weddings," Albus grumbled to Scorpius as soon as the latter walked up. Scorpius just grinned, bemused, at his friend, shaking his head. They were standing near the huge tree in the Burrow's back yard, surveying the guests being directed to seats by the various Weasley cousins.

"Come on," Scorpius clapped Albus on the shoulder, steering him back toward the house. "Let's go hide out with the girls, okay?"

The two boys walked quickly and quietly into the house, avoiding any of the family, lest they be forced to help out in one way or another. Sneaking up the stairs, they climbed until they reached the second floor; Sadie was getting ready in Albus' mother's old room.

The boys stopped at the door apprehensively. "We should knock, right?" Scorpius asked uncertainly.

Albus nodded. They stood for a few quiet seconds, both silently waiting for the other to knock before Albus huffed irritably and knocked. There was a muffled scuffling before Roxanne opened the door. She looked relieved before looking back over her shoulder and hissing, "It's just Al and Scorpius!"

Roxanne opened the door wider and ushered the boys in quickly, scanning the landing.

"We thought you were Grandma or one of the Mum's," Roxie whispered. The two boys nodded and fought back grins as they watched Dominique and Lily stumble out of their wardrobe hiding place.

"God, Grandmum's a tyrant!" Lily growled. She adjusted her dress and shuffled over to the bed to put her shoes back on. Dominique laughed. "Hiding in there with you wasn't exactly fun, Lil."

Albus and Scorpius sat down on the other side of the bed, watching silently as the girls, who were all already in their dresses, were debating with each other on hairstyles and such.

"Rox!" Rose stormed out of the conjoining bathroom holding several brushes and tubes of make up.

"Roxie, where's the red lipstick? Sadie is freaking out. The bathroom is all hot and she's about to cry because her hair won't stay," Rose looked frazzled and stressed. She wasn't dressed and her make up and hair wasn't done at all.

"Okay, okay," Roxanne sighed, looking around. "Bring her out here. I'll take care of her hair, you fix her make up."

Rose nodded and headed back into the bathroom, where muttering could be heard. Just as Rose walked back out with Sadie, there was a knock at the door.

"Girls?" Mrs. Potter's voice came through the door. Scorpius nearly shouted in shock as he was dragged backwards over the bed and to the wardrobe by a terrified Albus.

"She'll freak if she finds us in here!" he hissed to his irate sister, who had had the idea to his in the wardrobe as well.

"I'm supposed to be helping cook!" Lily whispered fiercely, trying to shove the boys out of the way.

"Girls?" Mrs. Potter's voice was louder now, and hints of her stress came through. Using the momentary pause to their advantage, Dominique shoved the boys away and dragged Lily into the wardrobe, shutting it with a snap. Mrs. Potter jiggled the door handle, and Albus looked at Scorpius, terrified.

"Bathroom!" Rose hissed, pointing. Scorpius grabbed Albus' arm and dragged him into the bathroom, shutting the door.

"Hey, Aunt Ginny! Sorry, we couldn't hear you over our talking in the bathroom." Roxanne's instant reply came.

Mrs. Potter must have nodded in affirmation, because there was some brief conversation over Sadie's make up and hair.

"Have you seen Albus or Lily? I haven't seen them anywhere. Albus is supposed to be helping us direct guests and Lily is supposed to be in the kitchen."

"We haven't seen either of them," Rose said.

Mrs. Potter sighed. "Whatever. Let's not ruin today. You look beautiful, Sadie."

"Thank you, Mrs. Potter," came Sadie's quiet reply.

"Aunt Ginny, where's the anti-humidity spray? I can't find it," Rose asked. The was a paused before Mrs. Potter answered.

"It's under the sink, in the bathroom. I'll go grab it."

Albus and Scorpius, who had had their ears pressed against the door, looked at each other in horror. The scrambled for a moment before jumping into the shower, closing the curtain as silently as possible.

They heard the door open and saw Mrs. Potter's outline through the shower curtain. Scorpius and Al involuntarily held their breaths as Mrs. Potter leaned down and grabbed the spray, checking the label for far too long in both boys opinions before walking out of the bathroom, leaving the door open behind her. Letting their breath out in audible sighs, Albus and Scorpius fought back their bouts of hysterical laughter as best they could.

"That was close," Albus whispered as quietly as he could. Scorpius nodded.

"This is a bit weird," Scorpius mumbled back, indicating their current situation. Al smiled before moving as close to Scorpius as he could and whispering, "I feel like I know you better."

It was all Scorpius could do not to laugh out loud. He slid down the shower wall, clutching a hand to his mouth and the other around his stomach. He felt like his ribs would crack with the effort it was taking not to laugh. He glared good naturedly up at Albus, who was redfaced, his mouth clamped shut as he tried not to laugh.

The shower curtain was thrown open, startling the boys.

"She's gone," an amused Sadie said, looking down at them. Scorpius just nodded, and Albus managed to gather enough breath to tell Sadie "okay."

After a few seconds, they climbed out of the shower, chuckling a bit and re-entering the bedroom.

Rose smiled at Scorpius briefly before concentrating again on Sadie's make up.

"Done!" Rose cried, setting down a brush and a tube of lipstick. Sadie readjusted her bathrobe before shuffling over to the full length mirror in the corner.

"What do you think," Rose said hesitantly.

Sadie grinned at her reflection before turning to Rose. "Perfect!"

Rose looked visibly relieved and then took the make up bag into the bathroom to start on herself. Scorpius got up and followed her. She stood over the sink, in front of the mirror. Scorpius walked the few steps to the toilet and put the lid down, sitting and turning to look at Rose.

Neither of them talked. Scorpius just watched as Rose applied foundation, amused by the faces she made as she turned her head along with the brush.

"Why do you need that?" he asked, trying not to laugh.

"It just makes your skin tone look even if you put just the right amount on."

Scorpius picked up a small compacted and opened it. "What's the right amount?" he asked as he looked at the blue powder inside of the compact he was holding.

Rose took a breath. "I usually don't wear foundation, but when I do, like today, I put a little bit on." She smirked as she watched Scorpius play around with some eyeshadow.

"Why do you ask? Looking for tips?" she joked, fishing out an eyeliner pencil. Scorpius rolled his eyes.

"Oh ha ha. Yes, Rose. I need to know for my night job," he said sarcastically. Rose snorted. Scorpius watched in horror as she lined her eyes with the brown pencil.

"I don't get how girls can put pencils so close to their eyes. What if you slip and poke yourself?" he said. Rose rolled her eyes.

"It's not really a sharp pencil," she said, drawing a small line on the back of her hand to show him before finishing her other eye. He just continued to watch, making comments here and there. Once Rose had finished, she stepped back and batted her eyelashes with exaggeration. "How do I look?" She said.

"Beautiful as always. But you know I think you're beautiful with out it, too," Scorpius said, turning on the charm. Rose grinned and rolled her eyes before walking out of the bathroom. She came back in a moment later holding her dress. She closed the door behind her.

"I just need you to zip me up. Don't get your hopes up," she said, unzipping the dress bag and extracting her dress. Scorpius made a huge show of pointedly turning away as she disrobed, joking around with her.

"Zip," Rose said, her the open back of her dress facing him when he turned back around. Scorpius helped zip up the dress and clasped it at the top. Rose turned around, smoothing the dress.

"How does it look?" she asked in a low voice. Scorpius knew that this time she really wanted his opinion. He turned her to face herself in the mirror, his arms around her waist.

"You look amazing," he whispered into her neck, kissing the skin their briefly. Rose closed her eyes and leaned back into Scorpius.

They were interrupted by a knock.

"Rose, I need to put my dress on!" Sadie called through the door. Rose sighed and spun around, kissing Scorpius on the lips quickly before opening the bathroom door.

Sadie looked at Rose's make up and smiled. "Looks really good," she said. Rose nodded and walked over to the wardrobe, grabbing Sadie's dress and setting it on the bed, unzipping the bag.

"Out, everyone. No one sees the bride," Roxanne commanded, ushering the four others out. Snapping the door shut, she walked back over to the other two, holding Sadie's hand as she stepped into her dress, which Rose had gathered up and was keeping off the floor. Once Sadie was in the dress, Roxie and Rose started on the buttons, Roxie at the top and Rose buttoning up from the bottom. Once they were done, Rose helped Sadie stay standing as Roxanne helped her into her shoes. Once they were done, Roxie and Rose stepped back, looking at Sadie.

"Wow," Rose sighed. Sadie looked beautiful. She had insisted on having her down, so Roxanne had fixed it so that instead of her usual loose waves, her hair fell in big, soft curls. Rose had opted to have her hair up, so Roxanne had curled her hair, too, before pinning it into a messy side bun, her bangs straight and falling to the opposite side. Both girls make up was natural looking, with warm gold and bronze eyeshadow. Rose had simply put on some light lip gloss, while she put bright, eye catching red lipstick on Sadie. The effect was amazing. It brightened her smile, and since it was from a magical brand, it was guaranteed to stay on all day.

"Okay, now the veil," Rose said. Roxanne grabbed the box with the bouquets and opened it, extracting Sadie's grander one of fuchsia and white peonies and Rose's smaller one of only pure white ones. The gathered stems of the peonies were bound in white silk ribbon on both bouquets, forming the handles.

Once the veil was on and over Sadie's face, Roxanne handed both girls their bouquets. Roxie waved a teary goodbye before exiting the room.

"I'm nervous," Sadie whispered. Rose turned to look at her.

"You'd be crazy if you weren't," Rose said, looking at her best friend. Sadie looked back at her before pulling Rose into a hug.

"You're my best friend, Rosie. I love you," Sadie whispered, her voice thick as she tried not to cry. Rose hugged Sadie back tightly. As much as she missed Masen and Daphne, and as much as she had considered Masen like her twin, it was always Sadie that she turned to at the important times. It was Sadie that she could talk to the most.

"Excuse me," a voice said softly. The girls broke their hug to see Sadie's parents in the door way. Rose nodded to them and gave Mrs. Anveray a quick hug in welcome before stepping into the hallway to give them a moment. Sadie had opted to walk down the isle by herself and have her father wait with Freddie at the end and give her away there. Rose would walk down first, and as Rose took her place across from Freddie's Best Man, his best friend since first year, Max Saunders. They'd been as close as Rose and Sadie since their first train ride and had been a part of summers at the Burrow as much as Rose's friends had.

The bedroom door opened and a tearful Mrs. Anveray walked out, clutching her husband's arm. Mr. Anveray nodded at Rose. "It's good to see you again, Rose," he said softly. She smiled at Sadie's dad and gave him a quick hug before he walked back down the stairs with his wife. Rose walked back in. Sadie had flipped her veil and was examining her make up to check for flaws from crying.

"It looks good, Sadie," Rose said. Sadie nodded and stood still as Rose fixed her veil again.

"Ready?" Rose asked. Sadie nodded. The girls linked arms and exited Ginny's old bedroom. Neither girl spoke, but the creaks of the wooden stairs seemed to speak volumes.

Rose clutched her bouquet, her arm entwined with her best friend's. She thought of the boy- _man_- she loved, who was sitting right outside with their friends and some family. She thought of how her heart fluttered when she saw him, and how there were moments when it felt like she couldn't breathe. Rose thought of the way she could guess his thoughts just by the quirk of his eyebrow, or the upturn of his lips.

Sadie squeezed her hand around the peony stems, feeling her engagement ring's band press against the white silk ribbon encasing the stems, digging in. She concentrated on her breathing, and how she had only ever been this nervous because of Freddie twice. The first was when she tried out for the Quidditch team. The second was when she kissed him for the first time. As they reached the ground floor, the butterflies raged full force in her stomach. For Sadie, it felt like their first kiss all over again. She could recall exactly how the sun played with the red tones in his hair, how his golden hazel eyes seemed to be focused only on her. She could still feel those butterflies; how she'd been contemplating kissing him all day, but hadn't found the right time. She remembered how she hoped he would kiss her first, so that she didn't have to worry about catching him off guard. Sadie remembered exactly how it had happened. How she'd been so focused on figuring out how to do it, that she hadn't noticed that they'd stopped. She remembered how he'd faced her, smiling softly. How he'd reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. How he kept the hand in her hair as he'd slowly leaned toward her. How the butterflies seemed to multiply and burst with in her. How he'd smiled against her lips. Sadie smiled, now, reaching up unconsciously, and gently touched her lips.

Rose and Sadie had reached the back door that lead to the garden. Rose turned to look at her friend again, gently squeezing her hand before letting go and exiting out of the door. Rose closed her eyes as she walked down the familiar path in her Grandmother's garden, not looking until the wedding march reached her ears. Pausing, she took a deep breath before opening her eyes and smiling as she walked slowly down the cream-colored aisle to where Freddie, Max, and Mr. Anveray were waiting. As she walked, she saw familiar face after face, but she just couldn't really focus. She was concentrating on her breathing. Once she'd reached her position across from Max, she looked at him. Max gave her a kind smile and winked good naturedly.

The entire concession waited with baited breath for Sadie to make her entrance. Rose scanned the rows of seats to see the familiar faces to pass the time. She saw many classmates, every Gryffindor, as well as quite a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs that Sadie and/or Freddie was friends with. She saw Scorpius sitting with Victrola, Albus, Lily, and Hugo. She caught Scorpius' eye. The smiled at each other until the music flowed into Sadie's entrance.

Sadie walked into the pavilion to collective gasps and sighs. There were indulgent smiles passed from relative to relative, whispered comments of Sadie's beauty, and watery smiles from the ones closer to the couple, but nothing was as pronounced as Freddie's complete and breathless shock. Rose had happened to glance unconsciously at him as Sadie had entered and caught the rapid emotion change in his face.

Freddie looked as if he'd never seen anything like Sadie before; it was the only way Rose could describe it. She'd never seen so much love in adoration in another person's face as she had in that single second. It had seemed as if Freddie was completely overwhelmed with the love he held for Sadie. Rose looked at her and saw a tearfully mirrored look on her best friend's face. They met at the head of the aisle. Mr. Anveray gently lifted Sadie's veil and kissed her forehead. Draping her veil back over her face, he walked her up the two steps to the alter and symbolically gave her away.

The officiator cleared his throat and began.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls. It is one of life's richest surprises when the accidental meeting of two life paths lead them to proceed together along the common path as husband and wife. It is one of life's finest experiences when a casual relationship grows into a permanent bond of love. This meeting and this growth bring us together today."

Rose glanced around at her family members in the audience. She smiled at her Uncle George, who was staring at Freddie and was clearly trying not to cry. Aunt Angie wasn't as stoic and was crying softly into George's shoulder, smiling up at her son. Roxie, who was sitting next to her father. She was grinning softly, as if she couldn't help but to smile.

Rose looked back at Freddie and Sadie just as the vows were preparing to be exchanged. Sadie turned to Rose, her watery smile radiant through the gauzy veil. She handed Rose her bouquet, squeezing her hand before turning back to Freddie.

"You may now exchange your vows," the minister said, nodding to Sadie.

She took a deep breath. "Freddie. My Freddie," she said tearfully. "I love you. I love you so much, sometimes it hurts. I can't picture love with out you. Only you. You're the only thing I'll see forever. In my eyes, in my words and in everything I do. I'm yours and everything you are, I am too. We're one, Fred. We have been since that second date. I love you. Someone really smart once told me that the best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds, and that's what you've given me. That's what I hope to give to you forever. Because I know that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're the only one for me."

Freddie smiled so widely, his face hurt, but it didn't matter. He couldn't feel it. Because all he could see, hear, feel was Sadie.

"Sadie Grace, I love you. I guess everyone says that, though. But I do. Merlin, I really do. I love absolutely everything about you. I love that you get cold when it's seventy degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm insane. I love that after I spend a day with you I can still smell your perfume on my clothes, and I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. But that's love, right? And love? Above all things, I believe in love. Love is like oxygen. Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love. Before, I couldn't understand what all those poets and writers meant. But now, Sadie, I get it. I really do. You are my everything, Sadie. I'll love you no matter what."

The minister smiled at them.

"The rings may now be exchanged." Turning to Freddie, he spoke clearly.

"Do you, Frederick George take Sadie to be your wife, to love, comfort, and cherish from this day forth?"

Freddie nodded, "I do."

Do you Sadie Grace take Frederick to be your husband, to love, comfort, and cherish from this day forth?"

"I do."

"May we all now pause and reflect upon the beauty of these lovers, the beauty and wonder of life. We all wish these two as many days of perfect love and perfect trust that life can bring. By the authority of the Ministry of Magic, I now declare you bonded for life. You may kiss the bride."

Freddie lifted Sadie's veil, throwing it over her head. Grasping her cheek, he ran a thumb over her lips before leaning down to kiss her. Applause broke out as Sadie threw her arms around his neck. Freddie lifted her off the ground, the two laughing and smiling against each other's lips.

With a wave of wands, the rows of seats gave way for the tables. Freddie and Sadie faced their assembled audience and smiled gleefully. Rose handed her her bouquet back and after the requisite picture taking, the four were free to join the rest of the gathering.

"Rose!" Albus called from a table next to the parents. Rose ran over as quickly as her heels would allow and sat down between Scorpius and Albus. She gratefully accepted a flute of champagne from a passing waiter.

Rose longed to take off her shoes and sit with her friends while the newly married couple continued on, but Rose, as Sadie's Maid of Honor, had to leaver the table after a few short minutes of rest and rejoin the wedding party at their head table.

"Rosie," Sadie smiled blissfully, one hand reaching toward Rose, the other clasped in Freddie's. Rose leaned down and hugged her best friend before sitting in her assigned seat next to her.

"Alright, everyone!" Max called, standing. He grinned down at Freddie, who was shaking his head but laughing. When the gathered guest's attention was on him, Max raised his champagne glass in a toast.

"To Sadie and Freddie Weasley!" Max called. The guests echoed with murmurs of "Sadie and Freddie".

Max took a sip of his drink before addressing the group.

"So, I guess this is where I start by telling everyone embarrassing stories and such about my best friend here, Freddie." Max chuckled and clapped Freddie on the shoulder.

"I could tell you all about the time in first year when Freds got chased by an angry school house elf covered in chocolate mousse, or the time he accidentally jinxed himself and sported a spectacular handlebar mustache for a month, but those probably aren't what you all are here for. No, you all want to hear about the times he kept me up talking about Sadie's specific eye color, or how he spent hours on his hair before their dates." There were light chuckles and giggles from the guests. Sadie turned to Freddie and grinned at him.

"But in all seriousness, I'm completely honest when I tell you that I'd never seen this guy happier than when he and Sadie finally got together. It was funny. I mean, you could tell she wasn't like any other girl for him. He told me once that she had him the day she tried out for Quidditch," Max laughed and shook his head. "Any girl that can astound Freddie that much when it comes to Quidditch is cool with me. I commend you, Miss Sadie," Max tipped his glass to her, to which she inclined her head back, laughing.

"I'm really, really happy for you, man. You've got one of the greatest girls right there and I know you guys are going to be happy together."

The guests clapped as Max sat down. Rose took a deep breath and stood, smiling.

"Wow. Let me just say that I honestly didn't think that Freddie would be the first of the Weasley's to get married, but now...well, it just seems natural, doesn't it? When you guys got together, it wasn't something you questioned. You two just, well, completed each other, I guess. It's hard now to think of a time you both weren't together, since you both just fit. I guess I'm saying alot of the same thing, aren't I?" Rose paused, breathing deeply before addressing the guests again.

"I think I'm lucky. I was fortunate to know you both before you became Mr. and Mrs. Freddie Weasley. Sadie, you're my best friend. You're my sister. We have great memories from school and summer, but we also have the moments where we needed the other the most. We can talk about anything and that's so great. I love the fact that our friendship goes beyond our mutual love of clothes and shoes. You were always there for me, and I love you and thank you for that. I hope I was as amazing a friend to you as you were and always are to me. You're like my twin.

"Freddie. You are so crazy sometimes. Honestly, it's like you have two moods: happy and hyper. The only times I've ever seen you serious or anything close to angry have all been on the Quidditch pitch, so I guess that doesn't count. You can just walk into a room and it's impossible to be angry or upset. You just make everyone around you feel so happy and just...better. When we were kids, you were the one all of us little cousins would run to when we were sad or mad. You're so nice to everyone and I'm glad you're my cousin. You and Sadie are amazing for each other. I love you both so much and I'm so happy for you guys."

There was more clapping and cheering. Rose sat down as Sadie and Freddie stood for their first dance together. Rose couldn't help but smile as they moved on the dance floor together. Sadie was looking up at Freddie as he held her close. They were smiling at each other, their faces full of bliss and affection. After their dance came the father-daughter dance and the mother-son dance, and before long, the rest of the guests were either dancing or chatting at tables. Rose stood. She'd been sipping on soda and water the whole of the dances and really had instantly regretted it. She turned, ignoring her shoes under the table as she tried to slip away up to the house to use the restroom. She ducked her head and stealthily slid among guests and tables before exhaling in relief as she made it out of the pavilion and down the garden path to the house.

"Rose!" a voice called from behind her just as she reached the back gate that led to the house. She fought a groan as she turned to see who was keeping her from the bathroom.

Rose instantly wished she'd kept going and had pretended not to hear her name being called. Dread filled her as she watched Masen walk toward her down the garden path.

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	5. Petite Roses

**Disclaimer: I, **_The Night Sings Alone_**, intend no infringement on anyone's copyright. 'Kay?**

**AN: Reviews are awesome. *hint* **

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"Look, Masen, now's not really a good time, okay?" Rose said. She wanted nothing more than to run into the house in order to go to the bathroom, which had the added benefit of avoiding this conversation.

"No, Rose, now. Look, I know I've been a jerk all year, but I'm sorry. I miss you, Posie. You were my best friend," Masen said, a pleading tone in his voice. Rose made a sound of disbelief and barked out a laugh. She crossed her arms, restroom desires momentarily forgotten.

"A 'jerk'?" she echoed. Masen sighed and looked away, annoyed.

"You were a complete an utter wanker to me for almost a year, and you just waltz up and expect me to fall to my knees in forgiveness?" Rose scoffed.

"Well fuck you very much!" she called as she turned away, throwing a lazy wave over her shoulder.

"Rose, wait!" Masen shouted, catching her by the arm and stopping her. She huffed, annoyed, and spun around.

"What? What do you want, Masen? You made it clear that my dating Scorpius disgusts you, so why are you here?"

Masen looked torn between shouting back at her and leaving completely.

"Why? Why, Masen?" Rose asked, closing her eyes as she stared at the ground. "Why did you leave like that?"

"I was just pissed. I mean, after everything, you just..." Masen reaches up and fists his hand in his hair.

"I just what?" Rose spat venomously. Masen glared back.

"Gave in."

Rose looks as if he slapped her.

"Gave in?" she echoed in disbelief. Masen quirks an eyebrow in challenge. They both loved a good argument.

"Yes, Rose. You gave in. Did you even consider for a moment how horrible he was to us since first year before you just laid down and spread your legs for him?" Masen hissed. His words cut her like white hot razors. Unthinkingly, Rose closed the distance between them. She reached up and smacked him, hard, across the face. The force of her hit threw his head to the side and she knew it'd probably bruise, but she didn't care.

"How dare you," she seethed in disdain. "How dare you speak to me like that. You know nothing about Scorpius other than the pitiful, jealousy-filled remarks you hear from Porter Thomas. Grow a fucking backbone, you pathetic ass. You were my best friend once, but you never had an independent thought your whole life. I can help it that we grew apart and now you've attached yourself to the newest person who gives you any semblance of attention, just like I can help it that you were in love with me. I'd hoped we could resolve this and be friends again, but I was wrong."

Masen looked at her with such an acidic look, she was surprised and took a step back.

"In love with you?" he repeated with contempt. Masen took a step back and looked at her shrewdly.

"Wow. That Slater bitch you've been hanging around with has really rubbed off on you. You had your arrogant moments before, but this just tops them all. Rose, I was never in love with you. I loved you, _as a sister_, but that was the extent. Now," Masen gave a dry chuckle that sent ice down her spine. He gave her a cold, appraising look that he must've learned from Porter.

"Now, you just disgust me." Masen turned, walking back into the pavilion and away from Rose.

* * *

Daphne Draven considered herself many things, one of which was highly intelligent. She sipped her champagne slowly as she watched Masen speak to Rose from the shadow of the pavilion. Daphne was thought things through rationally, never impulsively; it was one of the things she'd always gotten annoyed with when it came to her friends. Daphne was raised to think before she spoke and to never speak at length unless it was necessary. Rose spoke the first words to come from her mouth and dealt with the consequences of that particular habit when those words were less that savory. Masen was similar, to an extent, but generally contained a filter between his brain and mouth. Sadie was like Rose, but unlike their other friend, Sadie's words were far less crude and vulgar a vast majority of the time.

As Daphne observed the scene before her, she assessed the probable results. The first, and, the more she watched, was that Masen and Rose's once close friendship, which, to be honest, Daphne thought highly irreparable, was finally going to end today. She knew her friends and knew that one of them (more likely _both_ of them) would say something crass and untoward and, well, that was that.

Daphne only sees the perfect in the world. That's not to say that she's so naive to believe that everything is rainbows and smiles and cupcakes. No. She sees the order; the mathematical equation that makes everything _just so_. The balance to the chaos. She sees how there are two sides to this little..._situation_ her friends have created and knows that she must choose. She'll have to choose the side she sees the most benefit for her. It's not a matter of which is the one she actually likes more (_although_, she grudgingly thinks, _Rose and Sadie are much easier to be around). _It's a matter of were Daphne can see the order. And as she watches Masen storm away from Rose, angry and redfaced, and as she watches Rose stare up to the sky in a way that lets Daphne know she's not really seeing it, she's just hoping the tears will stay withing her ducts (crying is _so_ irrational, she thinks), Daphne chooses her side.

"I'm so done with her," Masen growls as he reaches her, snatching her champagne flute from her hand and chugging it. Daphne allows her lip to curl in a look of disgust at him. He doesn't notice.

"I really thought we could be friends again," Masen says, shaking his head. Daphne can see that he really did believe as much, and is honestly surprised it didn't work out in his favor. Daphne thinks that he is completely foolish for not seeing the honest truth in the facts that were brazenly in front of him, but she doesn't say so. The blow up that it'd cause is would be _very_ unseemly.

"Can we just get out of here?" Masen asks, filling the silence that Daphne is letting hang between them. She does this quite often, as she knows it annoys him to no end. She really ought to have ended things with him _weeks_ ago, she thinks. It was a moment of weakness on her part that resulted in Masen attaching himself to her hip, something that just did not factor in with her life plans. She relates their relationship to that of a ramora to a Great White Shark. She is the cold, ruthless killer and he is the little, spineless fish that simply can not survive unless it is attached to another, much bigger predator.

"You can, but I'll be staying," Daphne sighs as she daintily takes another glass of champagne from a passing waiter.

"Why?" Masen asks in what she deems as honest disbelief. Daphne resists the urge to roll her eyes.

"Because, I want to stay. Go if you want. I don't need to hold your hand," she practically snaps at him. Closing her eyes, Daphne takes a deep breath, stifling her rising temper.

"Oh my God. Are you on your fucking period, too?" Masen snaps at her, instantly angry. She can tell that it's residual anger from his spat with Rose, but for Daphne, it's an opening for her to finally sever ties with him.

"Good Lord, Masen. Grow up," she says with contempt. Looking at him fully, she quirks an eyebrow and arranges her face in a mask of cool disinterest that she knows will annoy him to no end. "Look, this has been fun, mostly on your part, but whatever. I'm really tired of hearing your childish, one-sided dick measuring contest with Rose. I'm done with you."

Masen stands there, flabbergasted. Daphne waits for her words to sink in and for him to leave, but he doesn't.

"Why are you still here?" she asks calmly, but with a cold undertone that doesn't go unnoticed by the boy it was directed to.

"There's something wrong with you," Masen says in a low voice, staring at her with a look that says he's noticed the way her mind works. After their six year friendship (a word she uses with connotations one generally associates more with acquaintances rather than actual friends) she would have thought someone would have caught the cold, rational way she looks at things, but instead it took him the month of collected time spent alone with her. Daphne finds this amusing.

"You... You're... off," he says, his eyebrows knit together in confusion and something akin to shock. Daphne raises her champagne flute to her lips and takes a small sip before slowly allowing a smile to form on her lips. Masen's face goes blank as he watches. She knows he can see the madness within, but before he can react, she turns and walks away.

* * *

Rose and Scorpius were laid together on her bed. The door was locked and they were both still wearing their wedding clothes, even though it's midnight. She had asked him to stay with her tonight, even though the risk of her father finding him was high. After her fight with Masen, all she could think of was how much she wanted Scorpius to hold her. It was a bit childish, she thinks, but when she had asked, he smiled at her so sweetly, the thought was pushed from her mind.

He knows her. It's funny, he thinks, but sometimes he's pretty sure she knows him just as well. So when Rose came up to him looking upset and hurt, he didn't ask questions. He knew she'd tell him when she was ready.

He knows that she secretly loves roses. She'd told him, once, in the beginning of their friendship, that she told everyone she hated them because people assumed that since it was her name that she must love roses. She had said that secretly they were her favorite flower, but only when there was meaning behind them. So when Valentine's Day rolled around, he went the "corny-romantic" route and bought her a dozen cream colored roses. There was a poem, he'd found once when he went through an Edgar Allen Poe phase and thought poetry in general was the shit, that was by an Irish poet named John Boyle O'Reilly. Scorpius had liked him because he was pretty bad ass, after being arrested, deported from Ireland to Australia, and escaped to the U.S. But more importantly, as he thought of what to get Rose for Valentine's Day, one of O'Reilly's poems had come to mind. So, being the hopeless romantic he sometimes was, Scorpius had found a dozen cream-with-light-pink-tipped roses like the poem described and had given them to her before whispering the poem to her.

So when she had come up to him today, clearly on the verge of tears, Scorpius had sent her ahead of him while he searched desperately through the wedding center pieces and Grandma Weasley's garden for a cream-white rose with pink tips.

They lay there, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her, twirling her hair in his fingers absentmindedly. She spins the rose in her fingertips slowly, staring down the intertwined petals.

Neither speaks, but it's okay. They don't need to. Not for a while.

"Don't enlist," Rose whispers into the darkness of her room. Even though Scorpius is breathing steadily, she knows he isn't asleep.

"Why not?" he asks back. He wasn't planning on it, but he honestly wants to know why she needed to reassure herself.

"Because," is all she says.

"Why?"

"Because."

"_Why?_"

"I'm scared."

Scorpius' fingers stop twisting her hair.

"Me too."

"No, I'm _scared._" Rose stops spinning the flower, laying it on his chest with her palm flat against it. "It's worse than they're letting on. I can tell. My dad," Rose's eyes well up and she pauses, taking a shuddering breath.

"I overheard my Mum and Dad talking. Dad said it felt like last time. Then Mum got all quiet and said it felt worse." Rose paused again and wiped her tears.

"You know what they're calling themselves now?" she asked him, her voice still watery and thick, but with no emotion.

"What?" he asked hesitantly, not wanting to know the answer. He heard the horror stories from his father about Aurors and Hit Wizards coming back from fights overseas. They had wounds from curses the Healer's hadn't seen before, like they'd been combined and mutated. They were making their own spells to kill people and Scorpius didn't know how anything could be worse than that.

"They call themselves Death Eaters. They're mocking us now," she said tonelessly.

Scorpius felt sick. He wanted to tell her it wasn't true or something naive and childish like that, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to speak.

He knew that he was on the List of survivor's children being targeted, but now, something about this whole war felt personal. They were insulting them now. The Crusader's were taking something that still instilled fear and pain in the minds of many and throwing it in their faces.

"I'm scared," Rose said in the toneless voice again.

Scorpius just lay there, hating the fact that everything had to be brought back to the war at hand. It seemed like it was on everyone's mind. Everyone except him. Yeah, his mother was killed as a result, and everything went to shit and he was pissed as fuck, but why did that mean he had to constantly think about it? He was getting angry, now, at Rose for bringing it up again.

But then, she buried her face in his neck and clung to him, her nails digging into his arm and chest, her whole body shaking with sobs and stifled screams of fear and pain.

Scorpius just held her. His anger had evaporated. Truth be told, he wasn't even all that angry with her to begin with. Sometimes. he forgot that she needed him just as much as he needed her.

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	6. this is not a chapter so ignore it ok?

Just proceed onto '**_All Along The Watch Tower_**' aka, the real chapter six, m'kay? I just can't delete this chapter, or I'll loose all of your awesome reviews and such.

So just go ahead, click next. Don't bother reading or reviewing this.


	7. All Along The Watch Tower

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**AN: I'm trying guys. I really am. **

_**Thank you, to every single one of you that reviewed and said all of those amazing things. The rest of this story is for you. I really do love you all. **_

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_October_

The Sorting and first feast of the school year came as a shock to most of the returning Hogwarts students, simply for the sheer reduction in population. There were gaps in the long House tables, the missing students whose families had fled now blatantly obvious. It had been solemn and almost quiet, with the reduced size combined with the sadness of friends who weren't there, classmates too scared to return. The largest class was seventh years, seeing as now that they were Wizarding adults, few wanted to jeopardize their academic standing.

Once school had started up and the seventh years were being worked harder than ever. The few that had enlisted and were undergoing basic training as well, and by the mid-mark of the month, the short tempers and bleary eyes told the soldiers from the students. The overall environment of the school had changed, as well. Aurors, Healers, and trained Ministry Officials were essentially a part of the staff, as they were solely installed in the school to train the select few students. Certain classes' sizes decreased even further, reducing some classes to two or three students. The upperclassmen had a more mature vibe than the Hogwarts teachers had seen in years. The only staple of normalcy and school-aged frivolity was Quidditch. Even the dual-enrolled soldiers participated. Some, like Albus, refusing point-blank to give it up.

For Albus, Quidditch was cathartic. It was his stress relief. The sudden influx of school work and training should have taken a huge toll on him, but all he felt was a inkling of stress at the quantity of the work. Other than that, Albus felt as if he was living his dream. He was partnered with a younger Healer, Haddic, a first year medic who like Albus, had decided to enlist. Haddic and three other Healers came every Tuesday and Thursday to teach the four students Emergency Field medicine. The other three days, they joined the twelve other enlisted seventh years in basic training. As it was their NEWT year, each seventh year had fewer classes since they were all focusing on their future careers Albus only had Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and he only took two on certain days, three on the others.

Currently, Albus was on his way to Basic Training. Dressed down in his Quidditch practice clothes, he double checked for his wand and focused on clearing his mind. It was proving to be a difficult task. He silently cursed himself; being focused was key to getting better in training and if his mind was still reeling over the latest deaths, it could be disastrous to all of his hard work.

"_Charlotte Slater, wife of Viktor Krum and mother of Hogwarts student Victrola, was found dead. Ms. Slater is the fifteenth victim of the Revolution. The news of her death comes just days after the murder of Cormac McLaggen..."_

Victrola was devastated. Even though she had always been much closer to her father than her mother, she was understandably taking the loss hard. Albus tried to be as comforting and supportive as possible, but Victrola was the type to push people away and attempt to comfort herself in the quiet and would bottle things up until they explode out of her control. Albus and Scorpius both learned this the hard way in their third year, when Vic was on the receiving end of a similar spell to the one that their ex-Defense teacher/ Albanian spy had used on Rose. What had happened to Victrola had been kept quiet with in the school by McGonagall by the request of Victrola's parents, and the two boys were among the few outside of Slytherin that knew. Their friend had been inconsolable for days. She wouldn't eat, sleep or speak to anyone until the two snuck into the hospital wing and forced her to let them in. The entire experience had solidified their friendship and resulted in both boys being fiercely protective of her.

Albus made his way to the Transfiguration wing of the school, where renovated classrooms were being used to train. He entered the room, greeting the other cadets. He went to the other three guys who were his 'squad'. Since there were sixteen cadets and four med students, the trainers had taken advantage of the convenient numbers and the group was divided into four groups of four with one med student to a group. The groups were given colors to make it even easier for the trainers to keep track of them and identify them. Every member had to wear a bandana of their group's color. Most opted to just tie them around their wrist. It became a badge of honor almost. There was a sense of camaraderie instilled within them from the beginning, but when they had been forced to work together in teams, each became a sort of makeshift brotherhood. Scorpius, who was as good at understanding people as Albus was at curing illnesses, had said that it was because of the War. Albus had brushed this off, as he didn't like psychology and liked when everything had an easily quantifiable explanation.

Twisting the worn dark blue bandanna around his wrist absentmindedly, Albus sat down in a chair next to Tom Logan, one of the members of his team. Logan looked up as he plopped down, nodding in greeting before turning back to Landon Riley and Mark Tucker, who were deep in conversation.

"Riles, I'm telling you, we're gonna be shipped out before school's over," Tucker was saying. Albus looked up from his equipment pack in interest.

"What makes you say that?" Albus asked, looking to Logan for an explanation. Tucker and Riley glanced at each other.

"Potter, haven't you been reading the Prophet?" Riley mumbled in discomfort. Their reactions weren't comforting Albus in the least.

"Yeah," he replied defensively, looking back down at his healing potions and salves. Logan shifted in his seat as Tucker played with the zipper on his pack.

"Mate, they've taken Bulgaria."

Albus' head snapped up. "What?" he asked in complete shock. Surely he would have heard other students talking at breakfast? But as he tried to piece his morning together to see what clues he could have missed, the most blatant one struck him head on.

Breakfast at Hogwarts was never quiet.

It should have been obvious as he munched happily on his tenderly cooked bacon.

_No wonder Cassie looked as if I was mad, _he thought, recalling the affronted look his fellow Ravenclaw had given him this morning.

"Yep," Tucker sighed, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. He let his hand fall with a thud on the table they were seated at. "They invaded this morning at, like, two AM. They had an army of five-thousand. Five-freakin'-thousand, Potter." Shaking his head in disbelief, Tucker looked at Albus. "Minister Shacklebolt's calling for the first wave of our's, the U.S. and France's forces to help. They're most concerned about Durmstrang."

Riley spun his wand on his fingertips. "It's starting to look like they're caring less about the survivor's kids and more about getting revenge."

Albus nodded. "I've always thought that the whole "kill the survivors and their kids" stuff wasn't their real goal. I mean, clearly it's important to at least Koroleva, but I think most of the other Albanians are just pissed."

Logan and Tucker both looked like Albus' reasoning made sense, but Riley looked skeptical.

"I've always wondered why Koroleva's going after you guys at all. Well, I get the Golden Trio, but why the rest of the Weasleys, as well as everyone else?"

Albus shook his head. "I don't know. But whatever the reason is, it doesn't change the fact that some of them are already dead."

The four were so engrossed in their conversation that none of them noticed the sudden stillness that had descended upon the room.

"Riley! Tucker! Logan! Potter!" The four boys jumped up, the notion to be in action at a moments notice being second nature to all of the cadets by now.

The Ministry-approved-and-trained instructor was staring at the four intensely. He was a tall, stocky guy by the name of Staff Sergeant Anderson Rhodes. He was no nonsense, no holds barred, and instilled the cadets with a sense of pride, unity, and hard workmanship. He was in charge of Albus' team as well as the green team.

"You four," Sergeant Rhodes boomed, effectively silencing the room. He walked toward them slowly, hands on his hips, staring at his boots as he scuffed the tips on the stone floor of the classroom, and twisting a toothpick between his teeth. Albus wanted to glance at his team mates, but knew better; if Sarge caught him, they'd all be forced to do wind sprints while dodging hexes and jinxes.

"You. Four." Sarge said again, his voice a low growl. There wasn't a hint of malice in the way he said it, but the blue team of four could practically hear the thoughts of their fellow cadets, all of whom were praising their chosen deities for the tone not being toward them.

Sarge stopped directly in front of the team, his eyes hidden behind a pair of dark aviator sunglasses. It didn't matter that it was in doors or that the sky was overcast; Sarge wore his sunglasses the way a wizard wore his robes.

"Potter, Logan," Sarge barked, stepping in front of them. Albus stared directly at the center of Sergeant Rhodes' forehead, refusing to look away lest it be taken as a sign of disrespect or weakness.

"Would either of you kindly care to share what exactly your squadron deemed so important that you neglected to keep yourselves aware of the beginning of today's training?"

Logan cleared his throat. Albus internally grinned; Tom Logan was the self-professed King of Bullshitting. The Hufflepuff could talk his way out of any detention and boost almost any grade.

"Sir, my squad and I were discussing the Bulgaria situation. I think I speak for all four of us when I offer you our deepest apologies; we meant absolutely no disrespect. It's just that the invasion really changes things for us, well, the world really. Again, I apologize."

Sergeant Rhodes appraised the team, his thick arms crossed. The only noise came from Sarge, as he continued to twist the toothpick in his teeth.

"How, exactly does the Bulgaria invasion change things?"

Logan inhaled sharply; Sarge wasn't punishing them, but this was still a test. He was always like this with their team. Albus had the sneaking suspicion that Sergeant Rhodes favored them the most. The four usually tried not to gloat about it. But, the task proved rather difficult, as several other members of various teams were glaring mutinously at the four.

"Well, sir," Logan began, a sly smile forming over his face. There were hisses and groans of anger to be heard from around the room. Albus fought back a grin and he heard Tucker hastily turn a snicker into a cough. Sarge's lips quivered into a smirk for a brief second. "We were just sharing our thoughts on why Koroleva is targeting survivor's and their children in the media, but actively extending Albania's land reign."

Sarge nodded, grunting in affirmation. "What do you think, Potter?"

Albus bit the inside of his cheek before he phrased his next words.

"Well, speaking from the point of view as a survivor's child, I'd have to say that I agree with my teammates. Koroleva is using her hatred of those who survived the War as a fallback of sorts; I personally believe that she's just a totalitarian dictator, hellbent on ruling a large empire and she's using the thought of a nation as a whole going after a select group of people to instill a false sense of security in the witches and wizards who don't belong to that group."

Sarge stopped chewing on the toothpick, looking at Albus with what he believed to be a shrewd expression behind his glasses.

"You don't believe she's actually interested in taking out the survivors and their families?"

Albus gulped and inhaled deeply.

"I think she'd like nothing more than to kill my family. I think she knows what kind of message that'd send."

Albus stared directly at Sergeant Rhodes' forehead, even as his teammates all turned in unison to stare at him.

Sergeant Rhodes started to twist the toothpick in his teeth again. He reached up and removed the glasses as he looked directly at Albus.

"I think you're all a hell of a lot smarter than the rest of these teams, boys."

Sergeant Rhodes replaced his glasses and turned away, walking to the front of the room. The four boys all let out their breath, turning to look at each other with wide eyes.

They sat back down and gathered their gear packs, snapping straps into place and sliding their wands up the special sleeve of their uniforms. No one spoke, the only sound in the room being zippers on backpacks, the clanking of potions vials as the Meds Specialists checked their supply, and the scuffing of boots on the stone. The teams filed out of the room, every group in two lines of two. Albus, who was next to Tucker and in front of Riley, turned to glance at Sarge as he passed.

Sergeant Rhodes just tipped his hat before turning to chastise a red team member who forgot his Tac pack.

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**AN: Next chapter- Rose/Scorp-centric. **

**Reviews are deeply appreciated :)**


	8. A Million Miles An Hour

**AN: PLEASE READ THIS AUTHORS NOTE. ALL OF IT.**

**Originally, this was going to be a fluffy filler chapter, but I thought... Screw it. I have so many actiony things planned for this sequel and what caused my three-month-long hiatus was my lack of ideas to put between the beginning and the action.**

** So, this chapter is where the real action begins. Remember that sneak peek wayyy back in chapter 25 of 3W8L?... Well...**

**-*Trigger warning for violence and gore. Don't like, don't read.*-**

_Disclaimer: don't sue me, I'm just a poor college student._

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"Do you think we'll get married some day?" Scorpius asked Rose, twisting a dark red curl in his fingers. The two were sitting, or in Rose's case laying, under a willow tree on the grounds. It was Saturday and one of the sunniest the students had seen since the term had started.

Rose laughed breathily, dog-earing her page in her book and laying on the grass next to them. She looked up at Scorpius with big navy-blue eyes.

"I guess. Are you asking?"

Scorpius knew she was joking, but he took the question seriously and thought about it.

"I do see us together until we're old and wrinkly and have grandchildren, but I don't necessarily want to get married right now," he said, looking down at her. Rose smiled softly.

"You took the words right out of my mind."

Scorpius smiled an leaned down, kissing her softly. Rose brought her hand up to the back of his neck, deepening the kiss.

Rose slowed the kiss. "I love you," she whispered against his lips. Scorpius reached down and twisted his hands in her hair, kissing her again. "I love you more."

"Not possible."

"It's true."

"Nope. We're equal."

Scorpius grinned. "Equal. I like the sound of that."

Sitting up again, Scorpius leaned back against the willow, closing his eyes and letting the sunlight streaming through the willow's branches hit his face.

"Promise we'll always be in love?" Rose asked quietly. Scorpius opened his eyes and looked down at her. She wasn't looking at him, but at a blade of grass between her fingertips. Scorpius cupped her face with his hand, gently nudging her chin toward him, silently asking her to look at him. Rose sighed and glanced up, looking at him with heart-breaking and breathtakingly beautiful eyes. He lost his breath for a second before he swallowed nervously.

Had anyone told him a year ago to the day that he'd be telling Rose Weasley how deeply and nauseatingly in love with her he was, he would have laughed arrogantly in their face. Before this point in his life, feelings like this were stories, the fodder of fairytales. Better yet, the notion that only sappy story-book heroes or girly fantasies included talks such as theirs. But, Scorpius liked to think he'd matured.

He rubbed her cheek with his thumb, his heart stuttering as she closed her eyes slowly, her long lashes fanning across her cheeks. _I really love her,_ he couldn't help but think.

"We're equals, remember?" he said quietly. Rose opened her eyes and looked at him, reaching up and intertwining their fingers. Scorpius took a breath.

"I will always love you, Rose Weasley. I love everything about you. Everything. And even though we're not like all of the other kids our age who are rushing to start families, when we decide to get married and have kids, I'll still be as hopelessly in love with you as I am now."

Rose chuckled softly.

"We're so sappy."

Scorpius couldn't help but laugh.

"Please. Other people wish they were us."

There is a beat of peaceful silence, but that was how they liked it. Rose and Scorpius were the type of people who enjoyed being with someone else and not talking. If a conversation started, well, that was okay, but neither felt the need to fill silences with banter.

"What would you want our wedding to look like?" Rose asked him, tilting her head up to look at him.

"I don't really know. I like the thought of something simple, but I haven't given it much thought. Whatever you want would suit me just fine," he shrugged. He honestly hadn't thought much past himself kissing Rose after the officiator instructed. The scenery hadn't played much part.

Rose smiled softly.

"Sadie, Daphne, and I used to talk about our dream weddings all of the time. Sadie totally had hers, down to the flower color, already. Daph is all about the best of everything. She wants everything to sparkle," Rose laughed, her nose crinkling in the way Scorpius thought was adorable.

"I want something simple, too. Honestly, I would love to run off and elope somewhere and never have a real wedding."

Scorpius looked down at her in confusion. "Really?"

Rose nodded. "Yep. Of course I told Sadie and Daph that I wanted all of my family there and I wanted a rose bouquet, blah blah blah. But really, all I want is to know I'm spending the rest of my life with the guy I'm mad for. Having some big, expensive production doesn't appeal all that much to me."

Scorpius just looked off at the grounds, grinning like a fool. "How'd I get so lucky? I mean, most guys would kill for a girl like you."

Rose just chuckled. "I'm a prize, what can I say?"

* * *

Quidditch matches were the students of Hogwarts favorite thing this year. Absolutely every student came out for the games as well as teachers and the Ministry officials who were training the cadets. The match today was Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin.

"And it's eighty-seventy to Ravenclaw! Potter is on fire! This is his sixth goal today!" the commentator bellowed, her voice echoing throughout the packed stadium.

Sadie, Rose, and Victrola were seated together, all three bundled up for warmth as the chill of mid-October was heightened by the wind.

Victrola turned to the other two, her brown curls whipping across her face in the wind.

"Is it bad that I'm betting against my own House?" she asked, pulling her knit hat down farther over her head.

Sadie laughed, taking her eyes off the game. "You're sitting in the Gryffindor stands; you're such a traitor, Slater."

Victrola laughed, surprising the other two. Ever since her mom had been killed in September, she'd been much quieter and more reserved. The other two had tried to be as hospitable and kind as they could, and had found it was much easier than before.

"I just feel like you replaced your friend Daphne with me."

Rose sniffed and looked at her boots. The fact that Daphne's family had taken the Kensington-Zabini's offer and fled the country with them still hurt her. She and Sadie still kept in regular correspondence with their strange and quiet friend, but it just wasn't the same.

"You're not a replacement, Victrola. You're our friend, too." Sadie rolled her eyes but smiled kindly at her.

Victrola grinned back. She scanned the crowd she was seated with and took note of the complete lack of sneers and glares, even though she was wearing head-to-toe green, grey, and black. She wasn't tacky enough to wear an actual school scarf or anything, but she'd extracted some of her designer favorites in her House colors to give the illusion of House pride. She loved being a Slytherin, and she fit the ambitious and cunning qualities to a T, but she loved Albus and Scorpius more. But mostly Albus.

"RAVENCLAW SCORES AGAIN! POTTER IS A GOD TODAY, LADIES AND GENTS!"

The three girls jumped up with the crowd and screamed, cheering as loudly as their classmates.

* * *

Scorpius flew past Albus as he scanned the skies for the Snitch. He hadn't caught a glimpse all game and was becoming irritable. He was flying at a rather slow pace as he scanned the stands. Had he been going any faster, he and the Slytherin Beater, McNeil, would have been dislodged from their brooms when Scorpius accidentally hit him.

"McNeil, what the fu-" Scorpius was cut off when McNeil slapped his arm to get his attention. Scorpius looked up from his probably bruised thigh to McNeil.

"What?" he snapped. The Beater pointed a shaky hand toward the sky.

Scorpius knew something was wrong a split-second before he looked. The stadium was silent, as every face was turned toward the large group of black specks, headed in what was becoming clearer as several groups of black hooded figures in V-formations on brooms.

"ALL STUDENTS GET TO THE SCHOOL, IMMEDIATELY!" McGonagall's voice boomed through the stadium.

Scorpius snapped his head toward Albus who had flown up to him where a terrified McNeil one was.

"Get to the girls and my sister, now!" Albus shouted, flying off toward the Gryffindor stands as fast as his broom would allow.

Scorpius followed him, scanning the crowds and stands in front of him for any signs of red hair.

"There!" Albus yelled back, pointing toward three girls running along side a mass of Hufflepuffs toward the school.

The two boys landed next to the girls. The three stopped in their tracks.

"Where is Lily?" Albus screamed over the mass of terrified voices. Rose shook her head.

"I can't find Hugo or the cousins!"

There was a great boom as the protective enchantments surrounding the school dissolved before their eyes. The first V burst flew over, sending curses and spells into the crowd. As they watched, frozen in terror, the six Albanian "Death Eaters" began to circle the entrance to the school, hexing and cursing the students who tried to run inside.

Scorpius grabbed Sadie and Rose's hands, as they were the closest to him.

"TO HOGSMEADE!" he bellowed as a mass of students with the same idea began sprinting to the village. Pulling the girls hands, the group of five ran as fast as their legs could take them.

As the huge entourage of students and teacher neared Hogsmeade, two of the bands of Death Eaters followed.

Scorpius looked back briefly to see Albus and Victrola running directly behind him. He caught Albus' eye. They both understood each other in that instant; _'Get out of here, now."_

The students burst onto Main Street to the residents and shop owners, all pointing their wands toward the sky, shooting retaliating spells at the aerial invaders.

As they passed the Three Broomsticks, Sadie narrowly missed a bright green spell. It shattered the cobblestones as it hit the ground. Sadie let out a shriek and toppled sideways into Scorpius and Rose.

"In a store, now!" Rose screamed, pulling Scorpius' hand as she shoved the door to Quality Quidditch Supplies open.

"What's going on? What-" The shop owner was cut off by the sounds of screams coming from the village. He looked at the five of them in alarm before extracting his wand, and against their protests for his safety, ran out of the door and into the chaos in the village.

"What do we do now?" Victrola lamented, still panting from the run to the village. They all looked at each other just as an explosion sounded from somewhere down Main Street. Renewed screams and lights from spells flashed from the shops front windows.

"Hide!" Victrola hissed. She snatched her hand from Albus' as she ran to a shelf of duffle bags.

"Vic, let's go," Albus hissed. Victrola ignored him and began stuffing her purse and the bag full of energy bars and drinks from the counter.

"Are you seriously looting right now?" Albus practically yelled. Victrola rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"No! All of our stuff is up at the school, and I just know we're not going to be able to get back there any time soon. I'm taking supplies in case we have to run!" She began stuffing exercise clothes and plain Quidditch robes into the bag.

"It's full," she said. Albus made to grab her and drag her to the back but she dodged his hand and to the door.

"Are you fucking crazy?" he whispered. He watched, confused, as she quickly slammed the door shut and flipped the lock.

Fed up, Albus grabbed her hand and pulled.

They ran to the back of the store, hiding in the racks of robes where their friends were.

Rose felt her heart pounding. It was like her senses were on high alert. She could hear scuffling coming from around the store and then whispered arguing between Albus and Victrola before it was silent.

"Is everyone okay?" Rose called softly. Four other affirmations came from the robe racks. They quieted, hiding out in the store.

"By the way, I locked the front door," Victrola whispered.

"Is that what you were doing a few minutes ago?" Sadie asked.

"Uh, sure," came Victrola's uneasy reply. Albus side-eyed her, annoyed.

"What-" Sadie began but was cut off by a strange whitling scream from outside the shop. They froze, several sounds of breath being held sounded from inbetween the robes. The five waited for the inevitable explosion, but none came.

"We should check it out," Victrola whispered from Rose's right after a few eerily silent minutes.

"We'll all go," Scorpius said. They hesitantly climbed out of the racks, wands raised infront of each of them, cautiously. They silently walked to the front of the store, just out of view of the plate glass windows. Sadie slowly crept forward, her wand aloft, to the window.

"I can't see anyth-"she started before Victrola snuck up behind her and clapped a hand over her mouth, just as a figure passed in front of the window. They froze with fear as the Death Eater stopped, looking into the store.

In one smooth motion, the Death Eater raised it's wand. Victrola threw herself and Sadie down, just as the window exploded.

Rose, screamed, her body slamming under Scorpius' as he pinned her to the floor as glass rained down on them.

"Impedimenta!" Albus shouted. There was a thud and the sound of glass crunching and scrapping the hardwood of the shops floor.

"Everyone up! We're moving now!" Scorpius barked, dragging Rose up. They bypassed the door completely, shoving the robed mannequins and brooms in the destroyed window display as they clambered through it.

"Go! Go! Go!" Albus shoved Victrola forward as they began running down the street. People shoved past as they ran, screaming, from Death Eater's spells.

Rose darted into a deserted alley, the other four following suit. She gasped as she slid and nearly fell on something slick. Looking down, she smacked a hand to her mouth as she took in the sight of a dead Death Eater.

"Oh, God!" Sadie groaned, gagging at the sight.

The Death Eater had clearly been subdued in the air where the body fell to the stone street, it's hood falling off. The Death Eater's body was twisted unnaturally, it's spine very clearly broken, as well as a leg. The head must have hit the ground first, as Rose had slid on a pool of blood, skull pieces, and brain matter.

"We need to get out of here," Albus snapped, getting their attention off the gruesome sight. Rose nodded.

"We can't Apparate, though," she said, folding her arms and facing away from the body on the ground.

"And we can't fly out; Al and I dropped our brooms back at the school," Scorpius groaned.

"Floo! We'll Floo out!" Victrola cried. "The Hog's Head is four shops down and there's powder and an open fire there."

They all hastily agreed and took off back down the alley, making a wide berth around the bloody mess. Scorpius interlocked his hands with Sadie and Rose as the former dragged them in a human chain back onto the street.

They had made as far as Bones and Marbles Booksellers, pushing roughly through the throng of hysterical people, when a frantic mother clutching a screaming toddler slammed into Rose and Scorpius, breaking the chain of five apart.

"ROSE!" Scorpius bellowed as they were separated. He heard her and the other two scream his and Sadie's names a few times before the voices were lost in the crowd.

Sadie clenched his hand even tighter, dragging him along. Her face was tear-stained and pale. They managed to reach a clear spot in front of a store front. They stopped, never letting each other's hands go as they caught their breath.

Scorpius was about to start dragging her back toward the direction of the Hog's Head when Sadie suddenly darted forward.

"LILY!" she screamed, pulling his entire arm harshly in the opposite direction. Scorpius spun and saw, to his horror, Lily Potter, running across the street from them. She was being chased by a hooded and masked Death Eater and was very narrowing dodging spells. She was barefoot and crying hysterically.

Sadie and Scorpius both ran after them. As they got closer, Lily darted into what she must have mistook for an opening. They followed as the Death Eater cornered her in a dead end alleyway.

"Stupefy!" Scorpius bellowed. The Death Eater went down, unconscious.

Lily ran to them, throwing herself into Sadie's arms.

"I got separated from Molly and Hugo and Lucy! They made it to the school I think but I got shoved into the crowd going to the village! I had to take off my heels because I couldn't run!" she sobbed into Sadie's shoulder. Sadie stroked her hair and soothed Lily until she calmed down.

"We have to go, now!" Scorpius shouted for what now felt like the twelfth time that day. Lily and Sadie nodded. He grabbed their hands and they ducked out of the alley.

"We have to get to the Hog-" Sadie was cut off as several cracks sounded and more Death Eaters popped onto the street.

"They broke the Anti-Apparation charms!" Lily cried.

Sadie stopped and looked at Scorpius.

"Forget the Hog's Head!" she screamed over the harsh cloud of sound in the village.

Scorpius nodded against all of the internal voices screaming at him to get to the bar.

Sadie took a breath before turning on the spot. They felt the crushing weight as they Apparated away from the village.

They felt their feet slam into the ground and all three of them toppled over onto grass.

"Everyone okay? Anybody splinched?" Sadie gasped, sitting up and rubbing her chest. She winced in pain as her back protested to the movement of sitting upright.

"Fine," Lily whimpered.

"I'm good," Scorpius coughed as he rolled over and collapsed back onto his stomach.

"Where are we?" Lily said quietly, running her hand through her hair and pulling crunchy dead leaves from her deep red hair.

Sadie pulled her hair up into a messy bun as she clambered to her feet.

"Bristol. It's my family's house," she said, looking up at the familiar light blue door of her childhood home.

"Sadie, this is a Muggle neighborhood and it's, like, eleven in the morning. You are so lucky no one saw us," Scorpius admonished as he got up and stood next to her. Lily managed to get to her feet and was leaning against Scorpius' side, her eyes squeezed shut and whimpering in pain. He looked at her.

"What's wrong?' he asked.

Lily cracked an eye open.

"My feet are killing me."

Scorpius nudged her arm.

"Let me give you a piggy back ride so you don't have to walk, okay?" Lily nodded and moved to stand behind him. He crouched a bit and she hopped up. He walked behind Sadie as she strode to the door. Tapping the doorknob with her wand to unlock it, she held the door open as Scorpius and Lily entered first. He heard her shut it with a quiet snap and lock it again.

"Lily, I'm going to find some of my brother's shoes that might fit, okay? You guys go get cleaned up and eat."

Scorpius and Lily nodded and walked down the hall, past the entrance to the living room and into the kitchen.

"Sadie's a halfblood, right?" Lily asked quietly, looking with interest at an immobile photo of Sadie's family on the wall. Scorpius nodded.

"Her birth mother was a Muggle-born. Her dad's a wizard and works for the Daily Prophet. That's her step-mom and brothers, though. They're all Muggles."

Lily nodded again and turned to where Scorpius was chugging a water bottle. Without taking the bottle from his mouth, he indicated the one he'd gotten for her. Uncapping it, Lily took a sip before realizing how thirst she truly was. She finished half of it in a second, just as Scorpius started on a second.

* * *

Rose, Albus, and Victrola burst into the abandoned Hog's Head, panting and jittery with adrenaline and fear.

"Where are they? Oh my God! Where are they?" Rose was crying hysterically. Victrola dropped the heavy duffle bag and was dragging it along with her as she darted around the room, checking for Death Eaters.

"Forget it Rose!" Albus bellowed at her, grabbing her wrist harshly and dragging her to the fireplace. Victrola stumbled to them, pointing her wand at the grate and muttering, "Incendio."

"Forget it? Are you fucking insane? Half our family is missing and my boyfriend and best friend are out in a riot! So fuck you!" Rose shrieked angrily.

Albus looked as if he wanted nothing more than to punch her.

"We have to focus on getting ourselves out. They know where we are, we just have to hope for the best. Let's. Go. Now."

He shoved her roughly into the fire that Victrola had thrown Floo Powder into. They all squeezed in, hands clasped in each others.

"Ministry of Magic!" Albus shouted just as the door to the bar exploded off it's hinges.

* * *

**AN: So, as promised, a Scorp/Rose centric chapter. The next will be where the two groups stories leave off, as well as some Freddie/James/Teddy.**


	9. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

**AN: **_Hi guys :) So, I totally read some of 'Three Words' last night... Is it weird that I actually really hate my own story? I personally find the prequel poorly executed, especially compared to this one._

_Same trigger warning for last chapter; I just mention them to be safe. The story will become progressively more gory, though._

_Anyway, if you want the chapters faster, review. Normally, I don't ask for reviews, but I hate the fact that I used to average 12-20 reviews per chapter, and now... six. I love your feedback and I like the speculation; you guys give me my ideas. I feel like my hiatus pissed all 356 of you that follow this off. And I feel bad about that. So review? Pweeeeese?_

**_Shameless best friend promo: Go read Equilibrium Absence's "Facing Demons". It's amazing. She and the story are on my "Favorites" lists. _**

I don't own Harry Potter. I wish, though.

* * *

"Ministry of Magic!" Albus' command echoed in the dusty, abandoned bar just as the door exploded off it's hinges. A group of Death Eaters burst into the room, wands extended.

The three in the fireplace vanished in a woosh of emerald fire. The Albanian's spells ricocheted off the fireplace and rebounded around the room. Albus felt Victrola's hand tighten in his own as they experienced the uncomfortable constricting warmth of Floo travel. Grates passed before them and they caught glimpses of living rooms and offices. The pressure lessened as they neared what they assumed was a Ministry fireplace when they were forced out. The pain of catching their breath before being forced back into the constricting pressure that was forced upon them as they were deterred from grate to grate. Finally, they were expelled through an open fireplace, the three tumbling out and gasping for breath.

"I forgot!" Albus groaned as he clutched at his aching rib cage.

Rose rolled her eyes, even though she'd also forgotten that during emergencies, incoming Floo travelers were thrown from grate to grate as Auror's and DMLE agents left the Ministry in droves.

Rose picked herself up off the floor of the office, grabbing the corner of the mahogany desk for support as her head spun from lack of oxygen. Breathing deeply, she forced herself to concentrate, wand out, and took stock of their surroundings. Victrola was laying near a file cabinet, an overstuffed duffle bag clutched in her hand along with her purse. She seemed to be okay, as she was breathing, albeit laboriously. Albus was near Victrola's feet, kneeling and curled in the fetal position, rubbing his ribs.

Rose kept her wand extended as she surveyed the office. The silence unnerved her; although most high ranking officials offices were semi-soundproofed, in the event of an emergency, Rose assumed the usual sound of movement that came from the Ministry's animated halls would be doubled, not dead silent.

Cautiously, Rose turned the handle of the door. She blocked out the sounds of Victrola and Albus' murmured conversation, focusing all of her attention on the possible threat of an Albanian Death Eater invasion here. Slowly, Rose cracked the office door.

The shrill shriek of emergency alarms, coupled with flashing red light and a monotone female voice booming through the halls met her. There were screams and explosions echoing to them as well, sending trills of fear down all of their spines.

_"ALL EMPLOYEES MUST EVACUATE NOW. PLEASE EXIT THROUGH THE NEAREST FIREPLACE; REMAIN CALM. ALL EMPLOYEES MUST EVACUATE NOW..."_

Rose looked back at the other two in alarm.

"Let's go, now!" Albus dragged Victrola back to the fireplace as Rose shut the door with a snap and locked it.

"Where do we go now?" Rose asked, racking her brains for a safe place to get to. Their houses were off limits; if the Albanian's were to track them, they'd lead them straight to the most targeted families. Albus seemed to be following her train of thought.

Victrola cleared her throat. "Let's go to St. Mungo's. That's probably where most of the Ministry went anyway, and no one would have been able to attack it." Victrola was looking at the other two as if daring them to contradict her. Rose pointed her wand at the fireplace and it burst into flames. Albus practically threw the ceramic lid of the office's occupants powder jar and scooped out a handful. Throwing it in, they all clambered into the fireplace before being whisked away yet again to what they hoped was finally safety.

* * *

When a major disaster happens, people look back on that day and remember exactly what occurred.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were sitting in the former's office, talking about something one of their colleagues had done on a test run. They would recall how Harry's intern had burst into the room, his pale face shining with tears as he informed the men of the attack. Harry would remember how his children's faces, all three, had flashed before his eyes. He would recall how he thought of Lily, and how he hoped to every deity that Albus was with her, protecting her.

Ron would remember how his entire body went cold and how he had forced himself not to scream. He would remember how his first thought was of his daughter, his baby girl's blood soaked form on the Hospital Wing bed. He would remember how he thought of Hugo, lying on unidentifiable ground somewhere, dead. He would remember how he forced his deepest fears out of his mind and how he bolted out of the office with Harry, as they joined the other Auror's springing into action.

Hermione Granger-Weasley would remember how she had happened to pass by a radio just as Lee Jordan's broadcast of the attack began. She would remember the sound of her coffee mug shattering on the tile and she would remember how her lungs seemed to shrivel up inside her. She would remember how she managed to regain her composure with the thought of getting to her children and she will remember how she ran out of her office in the DMLE in search of Harry and Ron.

Molly and Arthur Weasley heard Lee Jordan's broadcast at the same time as Hermione. They will remember how they clutched each other, falling to the kitchen floor.

George Weasley was restocking the shelves when the sound system that played the latest hits on the Wizarding Wireless Network throughout the day, cut out with screeching static. George felt the box of Puking Pastilles slide out of his grasp when Lee's frantic voice boomed through the store.

_"There has been an attack at Hogwarts, I repeat, Hogwarts and Hogsmeade Village are under Albanian air siege as I speak. No word yet on any casualties. The school was attacked unsuspecting during a Quidditch match. The fleet of thirty-two "Death Eaters" broke the forces around the school. There is no indication of how they did it." _A pause, hushed murmuring. _"We are getting word that students are fleeing the area via Floo- The Anti-Apparation Charms have been broken. Student's are being evacuated to St. Mungo's. I repeat, the students, injured and unharmed, are being evacuated to St. Mungo's._

There is another pause and a muffled rustling.

_"The Ministry of Magic has been evacuated as well after a threat to the building has been reported...I'm getting word that, oh Merlin, the Ministry of Magic has been attacked. An explosion has just been reported from the Auror's Headquarters... most of the officials had evacuated to go protect Hogwarts, but again, no word yet on the casualties as of yet. Hogwarts students are now being held at St. Mungo's..."_

George, Angelina, WWW employees and customers all stood silently. Parents with school-aged children or people with spouses at the Ministry had already left. The rest just stood and stared, transfixed by their own thoughts, letting Lee's voice wash over them in shock.

Draco Malfoy got news of the attack later than most. He had been late to work after a dispute with his landlord. Then, he'd been held up at a local Muggle coffee shop. When he finally managed to get back to his apartment and Floo to his office, just as he put on his regulation robes and sat down at his desk, the fireplace in his office burst to life again and Albus Potter, Rose Weasley, and Victrola Slater toppled out, covered in ash, soot, broken glass, and dried blood.

Hugo Weasley sat with his cousins Molly and Louis in one of the old viewing theaters in St. Mungo's. He got word of the Ministry attack through whispered conversations between fellow students. Molly cried silently as Louis rubbed her back soothingly. He offered her a wet cloth to wash her sister's blood off her hands and arms as they waited for news on Lucy's condition.

James Potter heard about the attack ten minutes after his father. He'd been on assignment with Teddy when they were informed by one of their superiors. The other Auror had grabbed their apprehended offender and Disapparated with a pop, her gruff and blunt message of "_Get to Hogwarts and help evacuate the students."_ Still ringing in their heads. Both men turned and Disapparated, reappearing amidst the smoldering remains of Quality Quidditch Supplies.

Kingsley Shacklebolt had been sitting in his office when a patronus of a cat had lithely stopped in front of him.

"Hogwarts has been attacked. The shields have been breached."

Kingsley had jumped up so fast, his chair had flipped and crashed into his coat rack, toppling it, too. He was out of the office and alerting his forces before the rack hit the ground.

* * *

Chase Anveray was driving home after his twelve a.m. sociology class had been cancelled. He and his friends had rejoiced mockingly at their crotchety professor's flu-related misfortune before Chase had made the decision to head home and relax before he picked up his younger brother, Jake, from football practice.

"Hey, Annie! Yeah, Professor Oliver has food poisoning or something, so I'm heading home to slack off for a bit. Meet me there?" Chase implored his longtime girlfriend. He laughed at her reply, the two bantering back and forth a bit until Chase spotted several police officers near the residential areas with speed guns.

"I'll call you in a bit, love you." Chase swiftly hung up just as he passed, lifting a polite hand to the watching officer. Pulling into his driveway, Chase threw his school bag over his shoulder, locking his car and making his way to the front door. As he went to put his key in the lock, he froze in alarm.

"What the hell?" he muttered, backing away. There were dried fingerprints of blood on the door. Chase dropped his bag off his shoulder, dashing back to the car and unlocking the trunk. He roughly grabbed his hockey stick, keeping it low so as not to alarm any passing neighbors. He inserted his key and felt his blood run cold when he realized the door was unlocked. Pulling his hoodie sleeve over his hand to keep from touching the blood, Chase slowly opened the door, lifting the hockey stick defensively as he entered.

Chase could hear the TV going as well as hushed conversation from the kitchen. Chase took a breath before rounding the corner.

Lily screamed as a guy suddenly appeared in the living room's doorway, brandishing a long and curved pole. The boy jumped in fright at her shrill scream before looking at her in confusion. He looked vaguely familiar and as Lily went to speak, Scorpius burst through the kitchen, his wand pointed directly at him.

"Whoa! Hold up, hold up!" Chase shouted when the tall blonde kid pointed what he recognized as a wand at his chest. Chase looked to the red head girl on the couch before looking back at the blonde kid just as his little sister Sadie ran into the room.

"Oh my God! Chase!"

Sadie ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. Chase instinctively hugged back, trying not to cough on her when drywall and dirt came off her in clouds.

"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling back to examine her. Sadie had small scratches along her neck and forearms; her right palm had a long cut across it as well. There was a small cut on her hairline that was still trickling blood.

Sadie nodded, but her eyes were glassy.

"The school was attacked and we were able to escape. This was the first place I thought of to come," Sadie said in a small voice.

Chase nodded and looked to the other two, checking for major injuries that required possible medical attention. The blonde boy, whom he met at the wedding but had a strange name like Scorpion or something, had a busted lip and small cuts and scratches on his hands and neck. The knees of his pants were torn and bloodied and Chase could see specs of glass glinting in the fabric. The thick leather boots he was wearing were coated in blood and glass as well, the glass shards cemented to the leather with an adhesive that was a diluted pink-gray he could only assume came from an internal organ. The little red-headed girl wasn't scratched and cut like the other two; her feet, however, were clearly so severely cut and bruised that Chase knew she was in extreme pain.

"You guys, finish getting cleaned up," Chase began, fully stepping away from Sadie and letting his hockey stick clatter to the floor and out of his way. Chase looked at the little red-head. "I have a first aid kit in the car, but there's another in the kitchen. I'll help you all clean your cuts, okay?"

There were murmured replies from the three. Chase nodded and exited the house again.

Sadie turned to Scorpius. "We have to get out of here. We can't endanger my family."

Scorpius nodded. "I know, but Lily can't walk anywhere yet. Let's clean our wounds and eat and we'll figure something out, okay?"

The other two nodded just as Chase came back inside. Scorpius plopped down on Lily's right as Chase took a seat on her left, setting the first aid kit on the coffee table, near the edge of the towel under Lily's feet.

"What happened to you?" he asked, looking in unmasked horror at the destroyed soles of her feet. Lily felt tears start to well up in her eyes.

"I had to take off my shoes because I couldn't run in them. I was being chased and there were pebbles and broken glass everywhere."

Chase nodded, feeling extremely out of place. The extent of his first aid knowledge was limited to sports-related injuries; the way to easily splint a sprained ankle or wrap a twisted wrist, with the occasional broken arm or nose that needed to be handled on the way to the E.R. He looked at the other two.

"Don't you know any spells or potions or whatever to, like, heal stuff in seconds?"

Lily sniffled miserably. "I want my brother. He knows that stuff." Scorpius and Sadie couldn't help but agree, silently wishing their calm, collected, and medically knowledgeable best friend was there. Chase just looked away, popping open the kit and extracting the bottle of rubbing alcohol and gauze.

"We'll need tweezers to pull the glass out," Chase glanced at Sadie. "There's probably some in mom's make-up stuff. Get the other kit, too, please?" Sadie glared reproachfully at her brother before nodding and leaving the room. Chase sighed and looked to the blonde kid.

"You or Sadie should probably be the one to get the glass out; it should be someone she trusts because it'll be painful and you're all traumatized enough," Chase made up blindly on the spot. As much as he wanted to help, he felt really bad about probably causing the poor girl more pain than she was already in. He didn't know her and the blonde kid or his sister would probably be able to calm her down better. Scorpius looked at him quizzically before nodding. Chase searched through the first aid kit and found a bottle of aspirin.

"Are you allergic to any type of pain-reliever?" he asked. He'd seen a guy in his maths class have a bad reaction to some medicine a friend gave him for a head ache, all because he was allergic to it and didn't know.

Lily just stared, bewildered, as did Scorpius.

Chase figured he could probably rush her to the emergency room if anything happened. He shook out two pills and handed them to her, along with her water bottle. She stared at them in her palm.

"Take a sip of water, pop the pills, take another sip, swallow," he explained. Lily nodded and, although she looked apprehensive, she did as instructed. Chase stood and made his way to the kitchen, just as Sadie re-entered the room with supplies.

She plopped down in her brother's vacated seat and extracted rubbing alcohol, tweezers, and gauze.

"Lil, I'm gonna try and get as much glass out as I can, but this is really going to hurt."

Lily nodded, squeezing her eyes shut and taking Scorpius' hand in a death grip. Sadie and Scorpius glanced at each other before she took one of Lily's damaged feet into her toweled lap.

Sadie inhaled deeply, trying to soothe her jittery nerves. She wished she new a spell or that Freddie was here because he was much better at this than she. Steeling herself, she began gently extracting the tiny pieces of glass, ignoring Lily's pain-filled whimpers as best as she could.

Scorpius numbed himself to Lily's little cries and groans. He knew she was in pain, and he felt bad, as she was practically his little sister, but his mind was on Rose. And Al and Vic, but really, Rose. He was hoping desperately that she was okay and that they'd made it somewhere safe. _She's strong. She can handle herself,_ he told himself resolutely. And it wasn't as if he had a constant need to be her knight. Rose was perfectly capable of defending herself. It was just that he wanted to be right there with her. He wanted to be able to look over and see her taking out Death Eaters and know she was okay and fighting.

"We need to get out of here," Sadie whispered suddenly. Scorpius turned his head tiredly.

"How?"

Sadie shrugged, gently wiping the blood off the foot in her lap with an alcohol soaked rag.

"We shouldn't apparate. It was dangerous, and we're lucky we weren't splinched," Sadie was beginning to work on Lily's other foot now, her lip between her teeth as she worked. Scorpius leaned back into the couch. He felt disgusting; there was dried sweat and blood all over his Quidditch robes and he was pretty sure he smelled rather rancid.

"How do you propose we leave, then? We're in fucking Bristol. My geography might be shotty, but we can't exactly walk to London. We have no Floo, and two of us are at the top of the Albanian's list," Scorpius laughed hollowly. "Actually, by extension, you're on their list as well, Mrs. Weasley."

Sadie slammed the tweezers on the coffee table, causing Lily to jump and Chase to re-enter the living room in alarm.

"Instead of shooting everything down, why don't you contribute? I'm so fucking sorry, Scorp, for getting us out of there before we were killed. Next time, I'll wait on your first rate instincts." Sadie stared him down seething.

Chase cleared his throat. "Where do you guys have to go?"

Sadie and Scorpius were glaring at each other, so Lily answered.

"London."

Chase exhaled loudly and ran a hand over his face.

"That's about a two hour drive."

Sadie and Scorpius' heads snapped toward him.

"Chase, you can't come with us. You can't get hurt." Sadie looked at him with scared eyes. Chase nodded.

"I get that, but... Look," he strode over and sat on the table. "Whatever you've gotten yourself into, I really don't want to know. I just want you to be safe."

Sadie twisted the tweezers in her hand, refusing to look at her brother.

"Can we take your car? If you say no, we'll just end up stealing one."

Chase groaned.

"What is so serious that you're willing to risk grand theft?"

The three looked at each other before launching into an explanation of the state of the Wizarding world. When they finished, Chase was pale and clearly in shock.

"You're staying here. I will not let you go out there, Sadie."

Scorpius and Lily's heads snapped toward the blonde in question. Sadie kept her head down, her brows arched as she finished Lily's foot. Capping the rubbing alcohol, she inhaled before turning her steely blue-eyed gaze on her brother.

"Lily, Scorp, we're leaving."

Sadie stood, dropping a pair of worn leather flip flops on the coffee table in front of Lily.

"You can have these." Lily quietly slid them on, only wincing slightly at the contact.

"Sadie!" Chase exclaimed, following her into the kitchen angrily as she cleared up the gauze and bloodied glass pieces.

There was muffled conversation emanating from the other room. Scorpius exhaled loudly and turned to Lily.

"Can you walk?" he asked quietly.

Lily stood up cautiously and winced in pain.

"It hurts." She sighed, plopping back down.

Scorpius racked his brain for a healing spell. He knew one, but he couldn't place the incantation for the life of him. Blocking out the sound of Sadie and her brother's argument, he fought to remember the simple healing spell he'd seen his father, not to mention Al, use countless times on small scrapes.

He cried out in excitement, pulling one of Lily's feet into his lap and extracting his wand.

"Do you trust me?" he asked. Lily looked as if she was having a difficult time not saying 'no'.

Scorpius groaned.

"I can heal your feet; I remember the spell that people use on cuts and split lips and broken noses and stuff."

Lily still looked apprehensive, but she nodded anyway.

"I'm not looking," she groaned as she covered her eyes. Scorpius rolled his eyes and tapped one of the small cuts with this wand, muttering, "Episkey."

The cut instantly healed, much to his delight. Lily peeked through her fingers.

"It worked!" she exclaimed in surprise.

Scorpius got to work healing each of the cuts. Sadie re-entered the room, wiping away tears furiously.

"I'm not trying to treat you like a child, Sadie! I just don't want you getting killed!" Chase shouted.

Sadie spun around angrily. "I can take care of myself, Chase! I get it, I really do, but if we don't leave, you're going to get hurt. So will Mum, Dad, and Jake. And I can't let that happen. I'm sorry, I am. But we're leaving."

Scorpius healed the last of the cuts and they both stood.

"Wait," Chase called to his sister. Sadie huffed and turned. Chase dug through his pocket and extracted his keys, tossing them to her.

Sadie stared at them in her hand before looking up at her brother. "But what are you going to tell our parents?"

Chase shrugged.

"The truth," he said simply. "You left and I couldn't stop you. But you promise to check in when you can."

Sadie ran and threw her arms around his neck.

"Thank you. I love you. You're the best big brother ever."

"Don't you forget it." Chase laughed sadly.

The three beaten and battered kids exited the house. As she reached the front door, Sadie looked back.

"Stay safe, kid. Mum'll kill you and me if something happens," Chase joked weakly. Sadie smiled through her tears.

"Bye Chase. Tell everyone that I love them," she said quietly. He nodded, watching sadly as his little sister walked out the front door, more mature and with a wise demeanor that exceeded her seventeen years.

* * *

**AN: next chapter, Al/Vic/Rose and sheer madness in London.**

**_Review, my lovelies. Please please please with a cherry on top?_**


	10. Unstoppable

**AN: _Violence/Gore warning._**

**_Many thanks to silmarien189 for her help with all things Bulgarian, and to my awesome beta. _**

**_I do not own Harry Potter, aside from a few shirts and a Pottermore account. _**

* * *

"Merlin! Are you okay?" Draco Malfoy exclaimed, leaping up from his chair. Albus grabbed the lapel of his regulation hospital robe and managed to sputter between gasps of breathe, "_Hogwarts-attacked-escaped-Ministry-evacuated-_"

"Sit, all three of you," Draco barked. They collapsed, gasping, on the office floor.

"I'll be back. Stay here, got it?"

They nodded, their adrenaline highs fading. Victrola reached clumsily for the duffle of stolen goods, extracting spare robes and energy bars. She passed a set to each of the other two wordlessly. Rose nearly shredded the wrapper off the _Seeker's Aide Bar: It's the Holly-head Harpies' choice! _in her haste; her hands were shaking as her body acclimated to the relief of being in a non-stress situation. Her heart was slowly coming down in rhythm and her vision was blurring with fatigue. The clean, balled-up Podmore United uniform robe looked like the most comfortable pillow she'd seen in her life and the carpeted floor of the office was so soft at the moment. Rose's eyes drifted shut and she curled up on her side, very nearly asleep in seconds.

Albus pulled Victrola's dufflebag toward him and took three more nutrition bars. Victrola had taken Rose's lead and was fast asleep, her head pillowed on his thigh and using several robes as a horrible makeshift mattress. Albus forced himself to stay awake, as unhealthy as it was, lest something happen again. It wasn't ideal, but he had to make sure he was able to react fast enough and get the girls out.

A comfortable silence descended over the office, the only sound was their breathing. Albus lulled into semi-consciousness unintentionally, his hand in Victrola's hair. He was nearly asleep when the door flew open with a bang. All three exclaimed in surprise, Rose extracting her wand in a fluid motion and crying, "Expelliarmus!"

"No, Rose! It's us!" Ginny exclaimed as Harry threw up a silent Shield Charm. Rose cried out in relief and threw herself at her father, who had shoved through the crowd in the doorway, clutching his wife's hand. Hugo pushed through as well, joining them in a massive hug.

"Oh, _Albus!"_ his mother groaned, darting forward to clutch him to her.

"Where's Lily?" Harry asked in a deadly calm voice.

Victrola stood shakily and answered.

"She's with Sadie and Scorpius; we got separated. We don't know where they went."

Harry nodded, clapping his middle son on the shoulder, squeezing briefly before exiting the office. It was tense for a beat before the Weasleys and Ginny and Albus broke off into conversation.

Victrola swallowed the lump in her throat, smiling reassuringly at Albus over his mother's shoulder.

"I'm fine," she mouthed. He nodded, unconvinced, but allowed himself to be folded into his mother's embrace. Victrola kept her head down, allowing her long hair to block the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes. As distant as her mother had been toward her, she'd always been there when she'd needed her. She'd brush her hair back and sing to her in French and make her feel better. All Victrola had left was her father. And she wasn't even sure what country he was in.

It hit her suddenly; the desperate longing for her father to come hold her and tell her it would be okay. She'd seen him when she'd gotten the news of her mother's murder, and he'd convinced the Headmistress and several Ministry officials to allow him to take her home to Bulgaria. The week they'd spent there mourning her mother's loss was as painful as it was comforting. She was her father's daughter; mollycoddling and generic condolences meant nothing. As her mother's casket was lowered into the ground in the cemetery, Victor had grabbed her hand, squeezing in solidarity. _I'm not going anywhere, dashte._

And now, here she was, curled in Mr. Malfoy's office chair. Her tears had dried before they even fell and she was slowly micromanaging the pain, covering it up and burying it before her facial expression changed from the perfect plastic smile she was giving the adults and her friend who had finally noticed her.

"I'm fine."

* * *

The door clicked shut and Sadie pushed past Scorpius, wiping her cheeks furiously, making a beeline for the car.

"_Stop!_" he hissed, snatching her wrist tightly.

"What!" she exclaimed, whirling around to face him.

He pulled her into a hug. "_There are three men in black robes across the street, leaning against a car."_ he whispered.

Sadie's blood ran cold and her heart seemed to beat in her throat.

"Lily, get in the back seat. Buckle up and _get down,"_ she whispered harshly in the younger girls ear as she unlocked the doors. Lily nodded, refusing to acknowledge the Death Eaters.

They clamored into Chase's Jetta, Scorpius and Lily buckling themselves in as Sadie turned the key in the ignition.

"You can drive?" Scorpius asked hesitantly as he checked their pursuers out in the rear view mirror.

"Yep, got my licence last year," she said, throwing the car into reverse and backing out hard. Lily screamed as Sadie made a hard right, putting the car in drive and tearing down the street.

"Sadie slow down!" Scorpius bellowed as she nearly sideswiped a minivan on a hard left.

"They're following us!" Lily added unhelpfully.

"Get. Down. Lily!" Sadie barked, running a red light on her way out of the neighborhood. Scorpius turned to see Lily throw herself sideways, shoving a jacket and tennis shoes out of her way. Out of the back window, he saw the midnight blue SUV swerving past cars in pursuit of them. Sadie turned sharply, running over a curb in the process.

"Shit!" Sadie exclaimed as police sirens wailed and the tell-tale lights flashed in the rear view mirror. She floored it. Scorpius turned back to the front just as the car kicked back.

"SLOW DOWN!" Lily screamed from the back seat.

"Shut up!" Sadie cried, swerving erratically to avoid cars. Lily grabbed the crumpled jacket on the floor, curling up as much as her seat belt would allow and covering her head with it.

The SUV was practically tailgating them; Sadie's nerves were on high alert again and she was hyperaware of everything around her. They were zooming down a relatively crowded street. Pedestrians lined the sidewalks, passing in and out of shops on the promenade. Sadie slowed her speed down to seventy, which was still fast, but with the cars doing the lawful thirty-five between them, the police, and the Death Eaters were providing a helpful blockade.

Sadie kept one hand on the horn as she sped down the promenade, alerting the innocent bystanders and giving them time to leap fearfully out of the way. They turned down a somewhat less crowded side street. Sadie allowed the car to decelerate to fifty as they weaved down street after street.

"Where are you going?" Scorpius barked. Sadie grit her teeth as she slammed on the brakes when a car began backing out in from of them. She honked twice, signalling with her hand for the car to hurry up. The driver only slowed down more.

"I'm getting to the highway. I'm trying to loose them in the city," she spat as she held down the horn. The man in the other car flipped her off, stopping completely in the middle of the road and calling obscenities to them through his open window.

"Mature!" Sadie sneered, honking obnoxiously whenever the man opened his mouth to speak.

"Sadie," Scorpius' voice was calm and quiet as he stared out of the back window. The blue SUV full of Death Eaters was back, just visible down the long stretch of road with a fleet of police behind it.

The man in the car got out, leaving his car blocking the way as he marched angrily over to Sadie's door. He banged on the window shouting and red-faced in anger.

"Look you little bitch!" he snarled through the window. Sadie turned the radio on full blast, the bass of some rap song thudding and drowning out the man's shouts. Sadie sarcastically rapped along, completely ignoring Scorpius and only pissing the man off more.

Scorpius turned to look at Sadie, punching her hard on the shoulder and turning down the radio.

"Stop being a brat and drive!" he screamed in her face, grabbing her roughly and forcing her to see the advancing cars behind them.

She went stark white as she turned back around and looked for an exit around the man's car.

"I can't! This asshole won't move!" she whined. Scorpius glared at her. "I wonder why," he snarled viciously.

Leaning over Sadie, he looked up at the man.

"Move your car," he mouthed. The man only flipped him off and pounded on the roof of their car with his fist.

"Look what you did!" Scorpius shouted at Sadie. She stared at him. "He started it!" she cried indignantly. Lily wailed in the back seat as she looked at the mass of police and the car full of Death Eaters that were seconds from rear-ending them.

"We're gonna die!" she moaned, sobbing.

Scorpius put the car in gear. "Drive!" he commanded, grabbing the wheel with Sadie as they swerved toward the small gap between the car in front of them and the iron fence enclosing the children's park on their right.

The car barely fit, slamming into the trunk of the man's car and taking the side mirror off their's on the iron fence. Sparks flew and a metallic screech filled the car as they skidded along the fence. They sped down the street, turning directly into oncoming traffic.

"Wrong lane!" Lily screamed. The median was too high for them to pass over, leaving them trapped driving on the wrong side of the road. Scorpius held down the horn, still holding the wheel with Sadie with one hand. The gear shift and the buckle of his seat belt were digging into his side painfully but he didn't let go. Cars parted, stopping on either side of the road as they and their contingent of pursuers sped past.

"One of them is leaning out of the window with his wand!" Lily called. Scorpius chanced at look into the rear view mirror and threw himself into his seat.

"Lily get down!" he bellowed, ducking his head behind his head rest. Lily laid on her side with the jacket over her just as the back window shattered under the force of a spell. Sadie screamed, instinctively taking her hands off the wheel, causing them to side swipe another car. Lily tossed the broken glass off her jacket before hiding under it again. Sadie recovered and grabbed the wheel as Scorpius unbuckled and rolled down his window, extracting his wand from his sleeve.

Lily peeked from under her jacket. Steeling herself, she too unbuckled and rolled down her window, pulling her wand out.

"Lily! Inside, now!" Sadie barked. Lily ignored her, grabbing the handle on the inside of the car with her free hand for stability.

Scorpius silently threw Stunning Spells at the Death Eater. The masked man dodged them with ease, firing off his own curses at them.

"I'm turning!" Sadie called in warning. She cut across several lanes of traffic to get onto the highway on ramp, finally travelling on the correct side of the road. Cars slammed to stops as the drove through the busy intersection. As Scorpius and Lily watched, two police cruisers were not as fortunate and one was T-boned, the other clipped in the back and spiraling into oncoming traffic.

"Bombarda!" Lily screamed. Her spell was aimed perfectly at the center of the SUV's windshield. The Death Eater managed to swerve in time, and her spell hit the side mirror, blowing it clear off.

"Nice one, Lil!" Scorpius called, throwing hexes at the Death Eater and dodging ones in return.

Sadie swerved the car unexpectedly, Scorpius nearly being thrown out and Lily's back cracking painfully as she was slammed up against the door.

"Sorry, sorry!" she called to the other two.

Lily heard a faint noise and quickly glanced up.

"What is that?" she called. Sadie looked and grimaced.

"News helicopter!"

Scorpius groaned, firing off another Stunner.

* * *

"Mr. Potter! You might want to see this!" an intern in regulation St. Mungo's robes called. Harry and Hermione looked at each other before following the girl out of the emergency command station the Ministry had set up.

They marched down the hall, neither stopping until they reached a intersection . They were joined by Draco Malfoy, looking confused and irritated. The intern nodded to him and indicated he follow.

"What's going on now?" Malfoy growled to the other two under his breath. Harry merely shrugged and Hermione shook her head. The intern lead them to the operating theater where the unharmed students and some Ministry and hospital staff were gathered. The large group was quietly crowded around, the intern parting the group easily and directing the three.

"Harry," Ginny whispered brokenly, tearing her eyes away from the Muggle TV. The television was powered magically and was used in emergencies that affected both Worlds.

Draco stood transfixed as he observed the scene on the TV. '_It can't be..."_ he thought as he watched his son, hanging precariously out of the car window, in the middle of a fierce duel with a Death Eater.

* * *

**AN: Don't kill me for the cliffhanger.**


	11. Headlines

**Disclaimer: I**** intend no infringement on anyone's copyright. 'Kay?**

**AN: **_Wow. Just wow. I honestly didn't expect a response at all to the last chapter. Thank you :)_

_Sorry this took so long. I'll try to be more punctual with my updates. Also, 3W8L is still getting reviews. Reviews for me to update..._

_Wow._

* * *

_"As it turns out, the high-speed police chase that has the internet going crazy has been officially reported as a media hoax. It was all promotion for a new teen spy thriller, to be released next summer at select film festivals. The studio producing the independent film was mum as to the plot and it's stars..."_

Daphne muted the t.v. tossing the remote aside. After Nate had told her about the Quidditch riots, she'd been in a panic, desperate to hear from her friends. She'd been shopping when she'd spotted the coverage of the chase on a restaurant television. She had recognized Scorpius when a news camera had zoomed in on his face. Nate had grabbed her wrist and dragged her back to the townhouse they were staying at in Madrid, where they'd watched with rapt attention.

* * *

**Five hours before:**

Sadie's knuckles were white as she gripped the steering wheel. She was dodging past cars, trying to put as much distance between them and the Death Eaters. She spotted an off ramp ahead, and an idea sprung to mind.

"Get in the car!" she screamed. Lily and Scorpius threw themselves inside as Sadie swerved, cutting across the lanes and onto the ramp.

"What are you doing? We need to get to London!" Lily screeched from the back. Sadie tuned her out.

"We're being followed by news helicopters. We're gonna be tailed by the police. We need to get out of this car and into a new one."

Scorpius shook his head. "We need to ditch the car but there's no way we'll be able to get a new one."

"We're outside Reading; we could try getting there by bus."

"We don't have any money."

"Check the glove box; my parents make Chase keep an extra debit card in here and some cash, just in case."

Scorpius popped the glove box open, shuffling papers around until he found a small metal cigarette box. He opened it and a wad of bills and a card greeted him.

"We'll buy the tickets with the card and keep the cash on us."

Scorpius closed the box and slid it into his pocket. "Pull over," he muttered. Sadie cast him a bewildered look before doing as he said, pulling off to the side of the road. The beat off the helicopter's blades was audible as he opened the car door.

"Get out, quickly," he beckoned, jogging quickly under the cover of a large evergreen tree. Sadie and Lily darted to him.

"There's no point in risking being arrested by driving. Let's just apparate to London."

Sadie immediately began protesting.

"They can Trace Lily. It's risky, Scorp," she said, crossing her arms in defiance.

As Scorpius began to open his mouth to retort, three loud cracks filled the air. The three froze, all recognizing the sound of apparation. Scorpius pushed Lily behind him as he pointed his wand defensively in front of him. Sadie's breath quickened, her heart beginning to pound with fear.

The crunching of dead leaves beneath shoes and hushed whispers came from their right. Scorpius grabbed Sadie and Lily's hands, looking at Sadie and silently communicating the need to escape as soon as possible. Sadie nodded, squeezing his hand briefly. Scorpius closed his eyes, picturing the first place in London that popped in his head, the overpowering need to escape to safety clouding his judgement of the location.

The squeezing pressure came over them as they left the car and the tree they were hiding near, before gasping for air as they reappeared in Trafalgar Square. People jumped and screamed at their sudden reappearance. Sadie wanted to slap Scorpius for his stupidity. Instead, she clutched his hand tighter, grabbing Lily as well, and ran as fast as her tired legs would take her away from the busy and populated area. They ran to Charing Cross Station. They slowed to a brisk walk as they made their way into the station. People no longer stared at them and as far as she could tell, no one was following them. Sadie led them into a coffee shop in the station. The three sat at the first open table available.

"Trafalgar Square? Really?" Sadie hissed. Scorpius pinched the bridge of his nose in defeat. "I know. It was reckless and stupid but -" he cut off with a shuddering breath. Sadie relaxed, feeling bad for snapping at him.

"I know. Sorry," she murmured. Scorpius nodded. He pulled the metal case out of his pocket, opening it and extracting a few bills. He passed them to Lily and nodded his head toward the counter. She smiled weakly in thanks and got up.

"What do we do next?" Sadie asked, her head resting on her crossed arms on the table.

"The Ministry? Or St. Mungo's?" he shrugged. Sadie lifted her head, pushing the fallen pieces of hair from her face tiredly. She opened her eyes slowly, bracing her pounding head against the light. Lily trudged back to their table, depositing her change, a bag of cookies and three drinks.

"I didn't know what you guys would want so I just asked for orange juice."

Scorpius and Sadie snatched up the offered cups. Scorpius bypassed the straw Lily was holding out, instead popping the lid off and gulping down the juice greedily. Sadie gratefully accepted a straw and sipped quickly, enjoying the cool of the juice.

They were quiet as they ate and drank. Lily was leaning against Sadie, staring at nothing out of the window in their booth while drinking her juice. Scorpius, who was directly across from them with his back facing the exit into the Station, was holding the cold cup of juice against his forehead, willing it to soothe his headache. Sadie was leaning against the window, her eyes closed.

Lily paused her drinking as she spotted a familiar face in the crowd outside of the station.

"Guys, we need to go, now," she hissed, shaking Sadie awake. They looked at her in confusion.

"They're here!" Lily whispered harshly, pulling on Sadie's shirt to try and get her to move. Scorpius turned and looked around the coffee shop.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Lily pointed to the group of Death Eaters in the lobby of the station directly across from them. Scorpius felt his blood run cold. He stood quickly, jerking Sadie up as well and pushing Lily ahead of him. Sadie drowsily followed, Scorpius' grip on her elbow her only motive.

Lily led them out of the shop and into the lobby. She ducked her head and grabbed Scorpius' wrist, trying to lead them unobtrusively out of the Station. Scorpius chanced a look back and tried not to prematurely sigh in relief as the Death Eater's looked around for them but didn't spot them. They slipped out of the station, Scorpius taking the lead and pulling them across the street and back into the Square.

"St. Mungo's should be safe," he said to Lily. She nodded, letting go of his other wrist and moving to Sadie's other side. linking her arm through the other girl's.

They walked at a normal pace, trying not to draw attention to themselves again. Every once in a while, one of them would glance back to check for any one following them. They made it as far as a block away from the Hospital's concealed entrance when Sadie was Stunned from behind. Lily and Scorpius whirled around and spotted two Death Eater's running toward them, ready to jinx them. Scorpius picked Sadie up bridal-style, shouting at Lily to run. Sadie's dead weight made it hard for him to keep up with Lily. He watched her scream order's at the mannequin in the faux store window, nearly crying with relief when it must have allowed entrance. Lily looked back at him, urging him to hurry.

"Just go!" he bellowed, just as James Potter and Teddy Lupin, along with a team of Aurors burst out of the concealed entrance to St. Mungo's. James grabbed Lily up, running back into the hospital. Teddy barked an order to two of his team. They ran up to Scorpius, covering him and dragging him into the Hospital. Healers ran to him and someone extracted the unconscious Sadie from his arms. One of the Healer's forced him to drink an offered potion and he was unconscious in seconds.

* * *

**AN: Just a quick chapter to make up for lost time. **

**Reviews are dearly appreciated. **


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